Harry Potter: Zero
by WriteShop
Summary: Harry has avoided doing anything unusual or anything that would draw attention to himself for the first three years of his Hogwarts life. But this is Harry. The universe won't let him be a loser forever. This is the story of that change. AU, set in fourth year.
1. Chapter 1

INTRO

Harry, an abused teen rises up and become a hero? How believable is that? The far more likely scenario is that he would be a socially withdrawn misanthrope. In this story, Harry has avoided doing anything unusual or anything that would draw attention to himself for the first three years of his Hogwarts life. But this is Harry. The universe won't let him be a loser forever. This story is set in Harry's fourth year, as that is the year that trouble comes looking for Harry, instead of vice-versa, but it went AU in his first year.

I wrote the first 3.5 chapters of this story about 3 years ago, then the story sat on my PDA, forgotten. I just went to go sell the PDA, and rediscovered what I had written, and I got sucked back into the HP-Verse. So expect the writing style to change some around chapter 4

_'Thinking'_

"Talking"

START Harry Potter: Zero

Harry leaned back onto the grass as he listened to the Wizarding Wireless.

"And the crowd goes wild as Krum dives for the snitch, but Flaherty blocks him! Krum goes inverted... but no - he lost sight of the snitch!"

"Oh, damn." Harry let out the breath that he hadn't realized that he had been holding.

"Hey, relax - it's Krum who's playing, not you" Neville replied, sipping his ice tea. The two boys were sitting (well, hiding out, to be more precise) in the small greenhouse behind Augusta Longbottom's home. The house was a rambling mansion that had an air of benign neglect from the outside. The whole estate was old – there were weird old charms on it to squeeze in a 10 acre farm into a space the size of a typical suburban house. What made the charms weird was that they twisted stuff around, so if you didn't follow the paths when you were walking around, you stood a good chance of getting lost for hours.

"Yeah, well, I like quidditch" Harry shrugged nonchalantly, downplaying his interest.

"I keep telling you, try out for the team."

Harry just opened his mouth to reply when there was a roar from the Wizarding Wireless "Garcia has quaffled two goals - that's fifty points for Brazil!"

Harry swore. "How come they don't do that at Hogwarts?"

"Maybe because it's a hard shot to pull off, and the school teams aren't good enough."

"No. It's in the rules - only single goals count. It's because the stupid rules-obsessed board doesn't want the players flying outside the pitch. And that's why I don't want to play at school - it's kiddy quidditch!"

Neville looked skeptical as he finished off his ice tea, "I think you have been listening to too many of those Slytherin conspiracy theories - 'the school board is secretly Legilimensing all the students' and stuff"

"You have admit, some of the rules at Hogwarts don't make any sense." Harry replied defensively, "It's because the school board has secret agendas."

"Harry, we're kids. Just because they don't explain all their rules to us doesn't mean they are super secret or something."

"Well, if you can't explain why you have a rule, It's a bad rule!" Harry pouted.

Neville snorted, then paused to think for a moment, "Maybe your right. About that, anyways."

"Damn straight, I'm right!" Harry crowed.

"But I still think your reason for not trying out for the quidditch team is a cop out. You're just scared you won't make the cut"

"No, I'm not. I could make the team, if I wanted to."

"So do it - you're a good flier."

"Ehh." Harry got up and walked towards the back of the greenhouse.

With a sigh, Neville put his glass down and got up to look at a couple of tall leafy plants that were growing behind a dancing rhododendron. "Are you certain these plants are safe?" He said, gently handling a frond.

Harry ducked under a pair of wildly waving branches to join his friend "Yeah, yeah. All the muggles are smoking it" He looked at the marijuana plants that they had grown from the seeds Harry had stolen from Dudley.

"Then why did you have me plant them way back here?" Neville asked, batting away the rhododendron leaves that were gently whacking him on the head.

"Uhm" Harry thought quick, but nothing came to mind. Fortunately, a voice interrupted them at that point.

"Master, the henbane is harvested and ready to take to market." The speaker was a weedy looking male that looked like a cross between a human and a House Elf. He stood about 5 feet tall and was dressed in clothes that had been stitched together from burlap sacks. Pieces of hay stuck out of his uncombed hair.

"Thank you, Reedy. I will tall Gran."

The young male bowed and disappeared with a faint pop.

Harry scowled "House Elves freak me out."

"Reedy's a Field Elf." Neville replied distractedly - this was apparently an ongoing conversation.

"Yeah, whatever. The way his big eyes seem to look right through you, like your not really there... that's creepy."

Neville shrugged "He's part of the land. Are you going to stay for dinner? If you are, I should go tell Gran so that she can make sure the elves set a place for you."

Harry looked down at his watch. "Nah, I should be getting back. My family expects me back about now." There was a slight pause "Actually, do you mind if I borrow a couple of knuts for the Knight Bus?"

Neville was already reaching into his pocket in anticipation of the request, "sure, no problem"

"Ok, thanks. I'll pay you back at Hogwarts." Harry replied, looking embarrassed.

"Yeah, I know"

*Zero*Zero*

"So your friend didn't stay for dinner?" Augusta Longbottom asked in a disapproving tone as she placed a large slab of meat loaf onto Neville's plate (most of her conversations were carried out in a disapproving tone). The two Longbottoms were sitting in a brightly lit dining room. Unlike the outside of the house, the inside was meticulously clean, though the furniture was rather old and somewhat shabby. It was a very large room for just two people, but Neville was used to it, and was not bothered by the emptiness. Mostly.

"No, Gran" Neville replied mechanically as he took a bite of the bland fare.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Neville. It is unbecoming`" Augusta meticulously sliced a morsel off of her serving and chewed it thoroughly before swallowing, "Why is it that Harry never stays for dinner. You know that a good host makes his guests feel welcome." she mentioned in an accusatory tone.

"I don't know, I think his family is pretty strict with him" Neville had made sure to swallow before replying, this time.

"Do you know this for a fact, or is this your supposition?"

Neville pause to think (and chew) "He doesn't talk much about his uncle, but I got that impression."

"Because?"

"Well, he seems to have a lot of rules to follow." Neville shrugged,

"There is nothing wrong with rules, young man. They keep society functioning." Augusta glanced at her grandson and motioned upward with her hand.

Neville sat up straighter.

*Zero*Zero*

Harry snuck into 4 Privet drive, careful not to make any noise. It was past 11, and the Dursleys were asleep ('Early to bed and Early to rise' was their motto, even though so far it had failed to make them healthy, wealthy or wise), except for Dudley, but he was glued to his computer game and would be until 2am.

Harry quickly grabbed some leftovers from the fridge to fill his growling belly before clearing the table from dinner and then laying out the dishes for tomorrow's breakfast. Last year, Harry had discovered the best way to avoid getting yelled at was to not be home.

Harry opened a new bottle of coke and chugged half of it straight from the bottle before putting it back into the fridge, where the Dursleys were likely to serve it tomorrow. He then put a pinch of salt on all of Petunia's favorite house plants before heading to bed.

*Zero*Zero*

Harry sat bolt up right in bed. It was 6:45 - in 15 minutes Vernon would be getting up to go to work. Harry quickly threw on some cloths and silently tiptoed down the stairs.

Ten minutes later, he slipped out of the house, a bagel in his mouth and one of Dudley's video games in his pocket. The game had been buried under a pile of newspapers in the living room for over a week, so chances were Dudley had forgotten that he even had it. And there was a store at the mall that gave money for used video games. It was an hour's walk away - close enough to be do-able, far enough away that nobody would recognize him.

Harry set off, whistling tunelessly. The day was sunny but cool. It was shaping up to be a nice day. It was his birthday, after-all. He deserved a soda and some candy. And maybe a comic, depending on how much he got for the video game.

This was the way Harry had spent most of the summer: He would do his chores at the Dursleys' (or at least enough of them to placate Petunia) and then find someplace else to be. Most of the time it had worked out pretty well - he would go down to the mall and people watch, or if the weather was rainy, he would borrow an umbrella and head down to the library, which was closer. Harry wasn't a big reader compared to some of his classmates, but with nothing else to do, he had made his way through a lot of light fiction, including some fantasy, which he alternately thought as hilarious or truly stupid.

*Zero*Zero*

The week before school started, all of wizarding Britain was shopping for school supplies. Or so it seemed. Diagon alley was packed with hoards of loudly talking children and their parents.

"Oi, Potter" Harry turned to see Draco and Goyle heading his way. "You survived another summer with the muggles."

"It wasn't so bad. I stayed out of their way, they staid out of mine." Harry shrugged, "we pretended the other didn't exist."

"Maybe that could happen." Draco replied mysteriously. At Harry's confused look, he elaborated, "After the Quidditch World Cup, a bunch of guys went 'muggle bowling', It was bloody hilarious - they had them floating up in the air. The muggles looked like" He made a face with eyes and mouth wide open.

"They were like fish" Goyle added.

"Uhm, did you guys do that?" Harry asked skeptically.

"No, nothing like that" Draco replied quickly, "But we watched it."

"The guys who did it dressed up as You-Know-Who's You-Know-What's" Goyle added.

Draco smacked Goyle upside the head "The doofus means as Death Eaters". He then glanced self consciously, to see if anybody was listening in to their conversation.

As Draco glanced down the road, Pansy Parkinson was coming out of Madam Malkin's "Anyway, I gotta go. I'll see you at Hogwarts. Remember, you owe me 10 Galleons." Draco rushed off.

"No, I don't" Harry replied, confusedly, but Draco was out of earshot already.

Harry sighed and made his way through the crowd towards Gringotts. As usual, as he made his way inside the imposing building, the goblin guards scowled at him, and it seemed to Harry that they hefted their spears to a more alert position.

After waiting an interminable time in line, Harry made it to the bank teller "How may I serve you?" The way the goblin said it, the question sounded like he was thinking of Harry as an entree.

"Uhm, hi." Harry said nervously. The goblin looked through him, like he wasn't there. "I'm here to pick up my educational stipend?" His voice made the statement sound more like a question. For the previous three years, Harry had done this with Hagrid, but after last year's incident with the hippogriff, Hagrid had been been suspended until the start of this academic year, and apparently nobody remembered to come get Harry.

The goblin blinked slowly, "come this way, little human." And led him to a desk off to one side of the large hall. It sat behind a partition, which helped support the mound of papers piled onto it. Another goblin seated there asked him his name and vault number.

After several minutes of flipping through a box of index cards that was far larger on the inside than on the out, the goblin looked up "ah, yes" he muttered and made his way over to a tall stack of filing cabinet behind him. Harry sat quietly, trying not to fidget or draw attention to himself - this goblin looked particularly unfriendly, and Harry's 'prey' instincts were strong.

After a bit more rummaging, he pulled out a small box labeled with Harry's vault number. "Key".

Harry handed over the key, and the goblin opened the box, taking out a small leather pouch of galleons. "The papers in your file say that this is for your school supplies," This was said with casual menace, as if to make it clear that if Harry misspent it, he wouldn't be getting any more. "and that your tuition has been already paid from your vault."

"Thank you" Harry snatched the money and fled.

*Zero*Zero*

Next stop was Flourishes and Botts.

As Harry bought his books for the year, plus a couple of quidditch magazines and "Transforming Potions" - a book on potions that he had overheard the Weasley twins mention in passing. Any potion book that those two trouble makers spoke highly off must be worth a read.

As he was paying for his purchases, he recalled the first time he had seen Diagon alley. Harry snorted _'I was such a kid. Overawed by everything'_ It was on that trip that he had first met Draco, and been impressed by the supercilious Malfoy scion. To Draco, everything and everybody related to muggles was inferior, and that resonated with Harry.

As Harry made his way back outside with his purchases, he scanned the crowds, trying to find some path through it that would avoid the most people. Not that Harry didn't like people. He did - especially watching them as Draco made his acerbic comments , but being close to so many people he didn't know made him very nervous.

Sometimes, Harry wished that the stores didn't wait until the last minute to get all the school materials in.

As Harry edged around a particularly loud gaggle of children outside Fortescue, Harry almost bumped into Luna.

On the other hand, seeing his acquaintances before the start of school was kind of nice. "Hey, Looney."

"Hello, Harry", the blond girl did not take offense at the nickname, "How are you today?" She tilted her head and looked through Harry. He glanced behind him, but there was nothing there, just a brick wall.

"Uh, fine." Harry was at a loss as to what to say to a girl, even one who he sort of knew. But he didn't want to just keep walking. Luna waited patiently while Harry's mind slipped back into gear, "Uhm, so, did you find any snorkacks?"

"No, though my father and I did a thorough search - we traveled all over England. We started in Cornwall, and made our way up to the Isle of Sky. We did see lots of historical sites on the way, though. Maybe next year, we will look in Europe."

"Uhm, have you checked under your bed? Maybe the Snorkacks are hiding there. You know, where you least expect them" Harry snickered.

"No, Harry," Luna replied, unperturbed, "all that is under my bed is the chastity belt Daddy bought me for my last birthday."

Harry stood, confused, trying to determine how to reply to that statement.

After a moment Luna reached into her purse and handed Harry a piece of string with beads tied into it. "Here, Harry. This charm will keep the Wrackspurts from stealing your thoughts."

Harry took the charm "Uh...m"

"Thoughts are valuable. You should guard yours better." and she went into Fortescue without any further word.

*Zero*Zero*

On his way home, Harry stopped by the park up the street from the Dursleys. On the far side, there was a small copse of trees standing in a gully, and the park cleaners (managers? rangers? whatever) didn't bother with them - there was always a thick covering of leaves and underbrush in the gully. In the gathering gloom, it was almost invisible.

Harry quickly glanced around to make sure nobody was watching. He then ducked down and brushed off some of the leaves, revealing the mouth of a trash-bag. Checking that the area was still dry, he slipped his purchases inside and rolled up the top of the bag, before covering it again with leaves

Harry whistled as he strolled home.

*Zero*Zero*

"Where have you been, boy?" Vernon stood in the entrance to number 4 Privet drive, purple with fury _'though he was often purple',_ Harry considered. '_Possibly Petunia's fatty cooking was giving him explosively high blood pressure. Maybe one day his head would burst like an over-ripe watermelon?'_

Harry shrugged.

"Don't give me any of your attitude!" Vernon roared. he grabbed Harry by the ear and pulled him inside, where he could continue in privacy. "You didn't make dinner! You know your chores. You think we keep you on for free?"

Harry shrugged again and looked at the ground.

"We pay for your food, the least you can do is do your chores, like the rest of us!"

Harry relaxed, relieved that his petty theft last week wasn't the cause of the yelling. Vernon wouldn't hit him over chores. Probably. Sometimes, he thought he should have been sorted into Slytherin.

Vernon continued to rage as Harry sunk in on himself, only half listening. "What do you have to say for yourself?" apparently, the yelling was over.

"Sorry?"

"Where you listening to me, boy?" Vernon yelled again.

"Yes, sir," Harry replied meekly.

Finally, the moment Harry had been waiting for came: "Get out of my sight!" Vernon pointed at the door to the broom closet.

Harry slunk away.

*Zero*Zero*

As the Dursleys ate take out (Petunia had offered to cook, but Vernon had insisted that his poor, put upon wife shouldn't have to work just because their ingrate of a nephew had run off without doing his chores) Petunia asked "So how many more days until HE goes away?" the family sat in the kitchen, Vernon, Petunia and Dudley. Harry was somewhere else. Out of sight.

"Week and a half." Vernon replied around a mouth full of burger.

"Are you going to drive him to the station?"

"I guess." Vernon bit into his sandwich aggressively, "otherwise we'll never be rid of the freak."

*Zero*Zero*

Summer was over.

Thank Merlin.

Harry sat in the train compartment and waited for the Hogwarts express to get under way. The Dursleys had dropped him off early, in as much of a rush to get rid of him as he was to get away. Harry had made his way through the almost empty platform and took a seat by the window in one of the rear compartments.

Now, he sat, watching desultorily as the rest of the students arrived, milling about, yelling to friends and saying good-by to parents.

Several students peered into Harry's compartment, but nobody joined him until a pair of seventh year Gryffindor boys slid in, talking noisily about a sport - Harry didn't bother to ascertain which one as he tuned them out. They were soon joined by several other seventh years, friends of the first two, and soon the lot of them were involved in loud conversation.

Harry leaned onto the window and pretended to sleep as the train pulled out from the station.

*Zero*Zero*

"Greengrass, Alison"... "Slytherin!"

There was a round of applause from the students in the green trimmed robes.

The sorting was in progress, and Harry zoned out. He didn't understand what the point was. Who cared which house the first years were sorted into? It's not like he knew any of them, or would ever interact with them. They should just do the whole thing somewhere else, and let the rest of the students get on with more important things. Like dinner.

Harry thought back to his own sorting.

-flashback

"Potter, Harry!" McGonagall pronounced loudly.

A very small, very nervous Harry Potter made his way to the chair and put the Sorting Hat on.

_'Hmm, difficult. VERY difficult. Enough courage, I see. Not a bad mind, either. There's talent, oh yes. But a crippling fear of being noticed. So where to put you? '_ The alien thoughts sounded in Harry's mind _'__You're a tricky one. I don't think you would thrive in Hufflepuff or Gryffindor, Hmmm... You definitely have some Slytherin traits__'_The Hat rambled, hoping to see if Harry had any personal preference, but the boy staid silent, awaiting his fate.

_'Maybe not Slytherin - your fame would be too much of a liability, so it will have to be' _

"RAVENCLAW!"

-end flashback

Moody sat stiffly, watching the sorting assiduously, attempting to glean any information about his prospective students from the Sorting.

He leaned over to Dumbledore "Why does the hat always put siblings into the same house" he asked quietly, "after all, just because one sibling is cunning enough for Slytherin does not mean that they all are."

"Hmmm? Oh," Dumbledore hummed absently, "It doesn't, at least not always. But the well known traits of the houses are not the only factors. For siblings, the decider is often personal preference." Dumbledore glanced at the first years, and continued on. It was possible that the sorting was boring him as well. just a trifle. "And often, the sorting isn't about what traits the child necessarily has, but which ones the Hat wishes to encourage." Responsibility settled back onto the headmaster and he turned his attention back to the Sorting, a vague yet sincere looking smile pasted onto his face.

*Zero*Zero*

"Hey, Harry, wake up and pass the pumpkin juice" Terry Boots leaned past Luna and nudged the other teen, who, as usual, was in his own world.

"Huh? oh, Ok"

"Thanks" Terry took the pitcher , "Hey, if you need any help in Transfiguration, just ask, ok." he added, trying to look nonchalant.

Harry mumbled something that could have been an 'ok'.

Simon Grummin rolled his eyes. The fourth year 'Claw was sitting on Terry's other side, "yeah right" he hissed, "why is he even IN Ravenclaw?"

Terry shrugged, "He's good at potions. And maybe if he came to the study sessions he would do better in the other classes." Seeing Simon's skeptical expression, Terry whispered, "Look, I know you don't like Harry, but I think we should invite him to study with us." Seeing his friend's skeptical look, he added "I just don't want him bringing down the 'claw average."

Harry sat oblivious of the whispered discussion as he shoveled in as much food as he could, while stealing glances at the Gryffindor table. The first day back, he always ate too much, until his stomach was actually painful. But his attention was drawn away from his repast (and glimpses of a certain Gryffindor girl) when the quality of the background sound in the room changed. Harry wasn't certain what changed, but he had developed a sensitivity to subtle cues from living with the Dursleys.

Dumbledore had been making the usual start of the year announcement, and as usual, some students whispered quietly instead of paying attention. But that had changed. Harry tuned reality back in.

"Hogwarts is very proud to be hosting the Triwizard Tournament" Dumbledore was saying, "this prestigious contest will pit schools from across the continent in friendly competition, which will help us all get to know each other better." Dumbledore smiled and looked around the room.

"To that end, workmen will be expanding parts of Hogwarts to accommodate delegation from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, who will be arriving at the end of October." As Dumbledore sat back down, the room exploded into excited discussions

As Harry was finishing his meal, Draco walked by the Ravenclaw table on his way out of the great hall, along with his lumbering escorts. He slowed down as he passed by Harry and made a quick jerk with his head.

Harry bobbed his head, and wolfed down the last couple of bites before staggering after Draco and company.

*Zero*Zero*

"I hope Beauxbatons delegation has a lot of girls. I hear French girls are hot" Draco was slumped over the back of a chair (he was sitting in it backwards, using the backrest to prop up his arms).

"Yeah. And maybe Durmstrang will too." Crabbe added. "for them, it's going to be like the tropics here. Maybe they'll go naked."

"You every see Bulgarian chicks? They're all fat!" derided Draco and Goyle chortled (or at least he tried to - it came out as more of a giggle).

"Still, no quidditch. That blows" Goyle opinioned.

The three Slytherins plus Harry were hanging out in an unused class room that had become "their" spot.

"So, Potter" Draco, presiding over his court, switched track, "Did you manage to get any of that Mary-Wanna?"

"Yeah, Neville helped me grow it over the summer. We hid it in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom."

"So Longbottom is good for something after all" sneered Draco.

"Neville's not so bad." Harry replied weakly.

"He's not so good, either."

Goyle snickered.

"Anyway," Draco decided to save picking on his favorite target until Harry wasn't there. Potter was such a kill-joy. "You can show me the stash after class tomorrow - I want to try some of this Muggle-weed"

"Speaking of class," rumbled Goyle, "what are you taking for electives?"

"Same as last year, Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy and Divination."

"Why on earth are you taking Divination? I can understand the other two, but Trelawney is a complete fraud." Draco rocked on his chair dangerously, but managed to not fall over.

Harry shrugged. He wasn't going to admit that it was so could watch the Gryffindor girls - Lavender and Parvati. In his opinion, they were the pretties girls in his year.

"Is Hagrid teaching Care of Magical Creatures again?" Goyle asked.

"Don't know" Harry shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. He felt bad for Hagrid - he was the only adult he could relax around and be himself. "He may still be suspended."

Draco frowned, "Well, if I have any say in the matter, he would be canned. He's an idiot who brings dangerous animals to Hogwarts. That hippogriff was completely wild! What kind of idiot brings wild animals to a school?" Draco rubbed his arm in memory.

That comment killed the conversation, and the boys sat quietly. Crabbe fiddled with his robes. Goyle picked his ear.

"So, Draco, what are you taking? For electives I mean. You know." Crabbe stuttered out.

"I know what you mean, idiot." Draco smacked the larger boy upside the head, "It's not like I'm some old geezer tanked up on meds."

Harry started to chortle. The other boys looked at him funny.

"It's not that funny, Potter." Draco finally said.

Harry fell out of his chair, trying to hold in his laughter. "Oh, man. sorry." Harry staggered back up once he had control of himself, "I just pictured a conversation between Dumbledore and McGonagall.. 'so what are you taking'" Harry did a passing imitation of McGonagall's accent. He then continued in a lower voice reminiscent of Dumbledore "'Oh, the usual, a little something for my arthritis, some cream for my hemorrhoids, and Viagra for the first years.'" Harry broke into giggles again as the other boys continued to look puzzled, though Goyle looked like he wanted to laugh at the joke. He just wasn't certain which part was supposed to be funny.

"You guys need to take Muggle Studies." Harry shook his head in disappointment at his jokes poor reception.

"Why? There are plenty of wizard jokes." Crabbe responded.

"Yeah, and several of them teach here" crowed Draco. The other boys burst into a gale of laughter. "Speaking of, Potter, you still owe me 10 galleons."

"No, I don't" Harry replied defensively

"Go, on, Potter be a man and pay your debt." Crabbe added.

"Sorry," Harry replied confusedly, "I don't have any money on me."

"Well, then, go get it. We'll wait here" Draco was having a hard time restraining his amusement.

"Ugh, I gotta go. it's almost curfew" Harry fled. Sometimes, Harry felt that Draco was laughing at some joke that he wasn't being included in. Sometimes. He felt like HE was the joke. But at least he was a friend.

*Zero*Zero*

"Here are your schedules" Flitwick was making his way down the Ravenclaw tables at breakfast the following morning. "Anybody who wishes to form a study group can provide me with a schedule and I will post it in the common room"

Harry took his schedule It was about what he expected: Charms, transfiguration, CoMA, SLEEP (this thought was followed by quiet snicker), Divination, Potions, Arithmancy, DADA and mandatory DADA tutoring. Just like last year. The only class he looked forwards to was Potions. The rest ranged from mildly interesting to not-worth-showing up-to. i.e. History of Magic, aka SLEEP (another snicker. Terry gave him an odd look). Hopefully, the DADA tutoring wouldn't completely suck this year. Last fall, the seventh year who did the tutoring was Percy, and that Gryffindor prick was completely humorless, and was on some sort of power trip (or maybe he got a kick out of a Ravenclaw needing tutoring). At least in the spring, he was assigned a Hufflepuff. Cedric was ok.

"So what class do you have first, Harry?" Luna asked.

Harry pulled himself from his musings and looked over in puzzlement at the blond, "Potions."

"Are you taking Arithmancy? I signed up for it as an elective. It sounds fascinating." Luna answered, looking at Harry in her too-direct way.

"Uh-huh." Harry replied as he quickly gathered up his things and fled towards the dungeons.

*Zero*Zero*

"Potter, so kind of you to join us" Snape quipped as he handed out the materials.

"I'm sorry for being late, professor" Harry replied as he slid into the chair next to Ernie Macmillan. He didn't think he was actually late, but it was safer to apologize, Just in case.

"We're making a dreamless sleep potion." Ernie leaned in and whispered, "You cut, I mix" He pushed the cutting board of assorted ingredients over to Harry.

Harry had been partnered with Ernie in potions since first year, when all of the wizarding world had seemed very foreign and strange, and Potions, with its strict teacher, the most intimidating of all. Harry had been grateful to be partnered with the Hufflepuff, who handled the tricky parts while Harry worked as his assistant. They had continued the same way ever since.

Harry's hands started chopping and grinding, while his mind wandered. In Snape's class, that was usually asking for trouble, but what Harry was doing - preparing ingredients - was pretty straight forward, or so Harry found: all you had to do was not skip any steps or take any short cuts - you just did each step thoroughly. It was actually a sort of 'Hufflepuff-ish' task, to Harry's way of thinking. Sometimes Harry thought about asking Ernie to switch jobs, but he never worked up his courage to bring up the topic.

Harry sniffed the Gorepus root, to make sure it was fresh enough. It looked really vile, exuding a greenish-red sap, but the smell was ok, sort of earthy, like potatoes. Harry frowned - the smell was a little too strong. He pushed a little of the root aside, so as not to make the potion too potent.

"Potter, get your face out of the ingredients." Snape snapped from directly behind Harry.

Harry jerked up right, almost spilling his Gorepus. "I'm sorry, sir, but the text book said that you should always sniff Gorepus to make sure its fresh." Harry replied in a weak voice.

"Sniff, not inhale. If you get any of the root on your nose, you will experience an intense burning sensation." Snape chided, thinking of the intense burning sensation he experienced watching the students waste ingredients and burn equipment as they fumbled their way through his class. "Bones! reduce your flame before you..."

FWOOSH!

A ball of fire singed off Susan's eyebrows.

Harry snickered. that would teach her not to add powdered dragon bone while the fire was high.

*Zero*Zero*

"Professor?" Harry approached Snape as the rest of the students filed out, "I found this book over the summer" Harry held out 'Transforming Potions' out to Snape, "I think this is where the Weasley twins get their ideas for their prank items."

Snape looked at the book like it might be booby trapped.

"I am aware of the inspiration of their extra-curricular activities. I was a contributing editor to that volume."

"Oh."

Snape looked up at the idiot child plaguing his prep time. He had had to set out the ingredients for the Gryffindor / Slytherin class, and to ward Longbottoms work area against flames, or chances are he would lose more than his eyelashes. "Is there something else I can help you with, Potter?" Snape tried to stay civil. After all, Potter was one of his more promising fourth year students. Which said more about the general stupidity of the others than any special talent on the part of Potter. It was too bad there weren't any other Potions students on the caliber of the Weasleys. If only they applied there talents in class, instead of outside of it.

"Uhm, I thought you might want the book, to you know, use as evidence to discipline them." Harry stuttered.

Snape rubbed his forehead, "Take your book and go start on your homework, Potter. I don't have time for this" If he hadn't wanted the bloody Weasleys to HAVE the book, he wouldn't have BLOODY well left it out where they could find it. And it took him almost a whole month to get those idiots to 'steal' it. All because they wouldn't accept help from a Slytherin. Stupid bigoted children.

What he put up with in the name of teaching Potions.

*Zero*Zero*

"Hey, Harry, I hear you enjoyed Arithmancy." Crabbe snickered.

Harry looked up from his homework. He was in his usual corner of the library, where he knew he wouldn't be disturbed. Usually. Crabbe and Goyle where looming next to his table.

"I, what?" was Harry's erudite response. He preferred to study in the library rather than the Ravenclaw Common room, because here he wouldn't feel like the odd man out of the 'Claw study groups - after all, 'two heads are better than one', and the Ravenclaws used whatever resources they could to excel. Since they had the reputation as being the smartest students, it would be really embarrassing if they didn't get the top marks.

"You know, the new professor, Gwendolyn Volupta?" Crabbe made a curved jester in front of his chest, "The one you spent all of class staring at?"

Harry flushed beat red, "Uh, guys I need to finish some homework for next period." Harry hunched over the table. '_Please go away. Please go away'_. This was Harry typical mantra when dealing with Crabbe. If Vincent wasn't attached like a remora to Draco's side, Harry would have avoided the larger boy like the plague. He reminded him too much of Dudley.

Crabbe, obviously enjoying the effect he had on the Ravenclaw, was about to say something further when Goyle interrupted, "See you in DADA, Harry."

As the pair walked off, Crabbe called, "Now we know who to set you up with on a blind date."

*Zero*Zero*

That evening, conversation was buzzing around the great hall - about the Triwizard Tournament, about classes, but mostly about Defense Against the Dark Arts. Everybody had an opinion. Some student loved the way Moody was teaching it. Others thought he was a little... rough.

"I can't believe that he's crazy enough to be teaching us the Unforgivables!" Andrew Goldstien was appalled.

"He's not teaching them, he's just teaching us how to defend against them." Simon replied, exasperated. The two boys were sitting several seats away, on the opposite side from Harry, but their conversation was loud enough to dominate the table.

"Actually, there is no defense against the Unforgivables" Luna piped up from right behind Harry, startling him into snarfing his pumpkin juice. Neville, who had joined his friend for dinner, whacked Harry on the back as Luna took the seat on his other side.

"Incorrect. Miss Lovegood." The Ravenclaw prefect called from down the table. "There are several defenses. The simplest is to conjure an obstacle into the curse's path. But I will let Professor Moody explain." the boy turned back to his conversation with his girlfriend.

"Good going, Looney" hissed a third year 'Claw as he elbowed Luna "You do that in class, and you'll end up losing us points."

Luna shrank in on herself and she poked at her dinner. At least it wasn't obscene. '_Really, who's idea was it to feed something called 'Spotted Dick' to pubescent boys? Their brains were already so flooded with hormones that all their thought were about 'that'. __N__ot even Wrackspurts would bother trying to steal their thoughts. They were too icky.'_ She glanced up to see where Harry was looking.

Harry was talking to Neville, "I think Simon is right - we need to experience the Unforgivables so that we know how to deal with them."

"Harry, you don't _survive_ some of the Unforgivables" Neville gently chided his friend.

"Well, you know what I meant. Like what's-his-name said," he waved his hand in the general direction of the Ravenclaw prefect, almost smacking into Luna, "we need to know how to block them."

"I guess we're about to find out, " replied Terry, standing up, "It's class time"


	2. Chapter 2

step *thunk*

step *thunk*

step *thunk*

"Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts" Professor Moody paced along the front of the classroom "Defense is one of the most important subjects in the Hogwarts curriculum, but it has been woefully neglected these past few years. But no more."

He turned and faced the class, his magical eye peering -glaring- at each student in turn. "We will be covering a lot of advanced material, and the class will move quickly to make up for lost time. I expect there to be NO SLACKING in my class."

The Ravenclaws sat attentively in their chairs. This was promising to be a good class. Unlike second year, when it had seemed that they knew more than their professor.

step *thunk*

step *thunk*

Moody walked over to his desk, where there were several jars "We will start off the year with a demonstration of the so-called Unforgivable curses." He picked up a jar. "Does anybody know why they are called 'unforgivable'?"

Almost all the hands in the class shot up.

"Yes? Simon, is it?"

"Yes, sir." the boy beamed that the professor knew his name, "The three curse, Cruciatus, Imperius and the Killing Curse, are collectively know as the Unforgivable curses because of the indescribable suffering that they cause to the target." he recited.

"Wrong." Moody barked. The smile slid off of Simon's face. "you can kill a man with the Reducto curse. You can inflict pain with Expelliarmus or many other charms. What separates out the Unforgivables is that they require a certain frame of mind to cast. They require anger for the Killing Curse, hatred for Cruciatus , and contempt for the Imperio." Moody continued with relish, as his eye spun to track what effect his words had on the students, "These curses are banned because of the effect they have on the caster, not the victim."

Moody removed the lid off of the jar and put it down on the floor on its side. "but these curse MAY be cast on non-human target. I, personally, dislike spiders," as a matter of fact, a spider was just then making it's way out of the jar, "Which is why I have no problem with - Crucio!" Moody cast the curse on the spider, which convulsed. All the Ravenclaws shifted in their chairs to see what was going on.

"I know those of you in the back can't see, so let me repeat the demonstration." Moody turned back to the spider, which had staggered back up to its feet, but it was somewhat unsteady. "Engorgio" the spider swelled in size until it was the size of a large dog.

"Crucio!" Moody pronounced vehemently. He stared intently at the spider as it convulsed again, each of its motions now exaggerated by its larger size. After a moment, he turned back to surveying the students.

"Uhm, sir?" Andrew Goldstein held up his hand tentatively, "What are we supposed to be learning here?" He was obviously uncomfortable with the display.

Moody ended the Cruciatus and Finite Incantatem'ed the Engorgio before sweeping the spider back into the jar. "You are learning what the Cruciatus curse looks like, and you are learning to not panic if you see someone cast it." Moody put the jar away and turned to stare intently at Andrew "Out there, on the street, if somebody casts Cruciatus, you won't have the luxury of panicking. You're going to have to act fast, or otherwise, you could be next, You understand?"

"Yes, sir"

"Very good." Moody turned back to the rest of the class, "You think I like casting the Unforgivables? No. Nobody in their right mind does, but I want you to see them in here" Moody pointed at the classroom, "So that if, Merlin forbid, you run into them out there, on the street, you know what to do."

The Ravenclaws listened raptly.

*Zero*Zero*

"On a final note, how are the returning students doing? Are there any new 'issues'" Dumbledore was finishing up a staff meeting dealing with the fourth year curriculum. The professors were all gathered in Dumbledore's office, It was a tight fit, and the professors had to write on their laps or levitate their scrolls, but Albus liked it that way - he felt it gave the meetings a more intimate feel.

"Well, Potter is still a little suck up." Snape replied. "I wish the boy would grow a spine."

"How is he doing academically, though?"

"Well, enough. He does not take any risks, letting his lab partner do much of the work in the practicum, but his written work is solid, if dull." Snape was somewhat conflicted. On the one hand, Potter was an annoying, spineless suck up, and James' son. On the other, he was the least incompetent at potions of his year-mates.

"Yes, I see the same problem in my class" McGonagall added. "He consistently makes his motions too small, too conservative. He may be able to get away with that in Charms, but in Transfiguration, he does not project enough will to enact the changes he has in mind."

"I see from my notes that Potter was receiving tutoring last year." Moody looked up from his notes, "I was wondering if I should work with him one on one, after class."

"I don't think that will be necessary, Alastor. I will have one of the sixth or seventh years tutor him."

"It's no trouble" Mad-eye insisted.

"Thank you for offering, but I prefer not to have the professors do the tutoring for their own classes - exposing the student to different teaching styles can sometimes help comprehension. And allowing the upper years to tutor strengthens their own understanding of the material." Albus turned to Flitwick "and how is he doing in Charms?"

"Oh, well, enough." the small professor chirped, "As Minerva said, his motions are too compact, too abrupt. He manages the spells, but they lack real power."

"Could it be a physical handicap?" Albus asked.

"I don't think so" replied Flitwick, "But I will ask Madame Pomfrey to pull his records.

Dumbledore shuffled some papers before looking up again, "Very good. Are there any other students that we should keep an eye on?"

"Longbottom is still a menace." Snape quickly injected, "I need a larger budget for wards to keep him from injuring himself or other students when he next explodes his cauldron."

Albus sighed and wrote something down, "I will see what I can get you. Is that all the issues for the fourth years? Very good." he collected his papers, "Remember, on Thursday we will be having a double-header: we will be covering the fifth years and going over any remaining issues with the integration of the incoming Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students." The professors had been meeting over the summer to ready for the Triwizard Tournament, but with something so involved, there were always last minute issues that cropped up.

*Zero*Zero*

"Today, we will be covering the Imperius Curse" Moody stood at the front of the class, eyeing the students. All of the Ravenclaws sat attentively, quills poised. Even if they weren't naturally inclined to be studious (most of them were), Moody was not one to brook slacking in his class. "This curse was widely used by Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters to use weak minded civilians to cause mischief."

Moody's eye panned across the room as several of the Ravenclaws squirmed uncomfortably at Moody's use of Voldemort's chosen name. "If you can't even say the name, then how can you discuss what happened 15 years ago? We must think on what lead to the rise of Lord Voldemort, so that we are prepared if another Dark Lord arises."

"But that is off topic." Moody continued, "the Imperius curse is the only one of the three Unforgivables that can be successfully resisted, so this class we will be practicing throwing off the effects." Moody scanned the class, "do I have any volunteers?"

"To have the Imperious curse cast on them?" Squeaked Andrew.

"Correct."

There was a resounding silence. Several of the students hunched down, in the hopes that Moody wouldn't call on them.

"Miss Patil, please come to the front of the class." Padma walked nervously to the front.

"Imperio!" Moody intoned, with a flourish of his wand "now, unless Miss Patil can throw off the effect of the Imperius curse, I can have her to whatever I ask."

"Miss Patil, tap dance please."

Padma started dancing awkwardly. Several of the Ravenclaws stifled snickers.

"You think losing control of yourself is funny, do you?" snarled Moody. "Mr Boots, You are next."

Alastor went through the whole class, putting the students under The Imperius and having them do some silly antic or other. About half way through, the process started to lose it's shock value, and the students drew silent, as they became more and more uncomfortable with what they were seeing.

"You didn't like that, hmmm? Well, you weren't supposed to." Moody stomped through the middle of the classroom. "We will repeat this drill once a week. Hopefully at least a few of you will learn how to resist the effects of the spell by the end of the year.

*Zero*Zero*

"Ok class today we will be working on our star charts" Trelawney warbled. Her classroom was overheated as always, and Harry had to concentrate to keep from falling asleep, "You will be working with partners to first chart the significant celestial bodies at the time of your birth, and then to interpret what that means for your future. Those of you who HAVE one," She looked meaningfully at Harry.

"Ok, go ahead and pair off, and I will hand out materials" She picked up a handful of packets as the students got up and used the opportunity to chat. The classroom was crowded, since it was a double class, Ravenclaws and Gryffindors.

As Neville turned to look at Harry, Harry quickly darted towards the front of the room, only to pause awkwardly. "Uhm, hi, uhm. Parvati?"

The attractive indian girl turned to look at Harry, "Yes" Harry noticed that she had taken to wearing perfume similar to Trelawney's.

"Uhm, would you like to uh, work with me?" Harry blurted out.

"Sorry, Harry," She did not look the least bit sorry, "but I am already working with Lavender." She turned quickly away, to face her friend.

Defeated, Harry made his way to sit next to Neville. "She's out of your league, dude."

*Zero*Zero*

"Too bad Moody's not actually teaching the Imperius," Crabbe quipped as he slouched in a chair, "it would be a great way to get girls naked." He passed the marijuana cigarette to Goyle.

"Yeah. and then you'd go straight to Azkaban. No thank you." Goyle replied as he took a drag and promptly coughed.

"Yeah, this stuff is pretty good stuff." Draco said as he pounded Goyle's back. He had his own cigarette, while Harry and his two loutish Slytherins shared a second (Harry had provided a very limited amount of weed after all, and if they didn't conserve, it would all run out. Or so Drake's explanation went)

The four boys were lounging around after dinner in 'their' classroom. Earlier, Harry had retrieved some of the marijuana that he had had Neville grow for him, and showed Draco how to roll it into a cigarette. The end result was fairly sloppy, but the boys were well pleased.

"Potter, I gotta admit you did good," Draco took a small drag - he didn't want to embarrass himself by coughing like the neophyte that he was.

After a moment, after he got himself under control, he continued, "But you know, watching Moody cast the Imperio, it doesn't look that hard to do. I bet I could figure it out."

"I don't think that's a good idea, unless you want to go to jail" Harry interrupted, trying to act nonchalant. His experience with the Imperius curse had bothered him extremely. He was used to not having much control over his life, living with the Dursleys, but it was the little rebellions that kept him sane. The Imperius didn't allow even that.

"Yeah, well, Moody casts it whenever he wants, and Dumbledore hasn't said a word." Crabbe countered

"Moody's pretty hard core," Draco nodded approvingly. "Hard to believe he was in Gryffindor."

The boys sat quietly as some smoke drifted around the room. All four of them were feeling a little light headed.

"You know, I think the whole house system is wrong" Goyle interjected. The other boys looked puzzled, but nobody could work up any indignation at him challenging the status quo.

"What? What else would we use? Bunks?" Crabbe asked, puzzled.

"Or homerooms?" Harry tittered.

"No, I don't mean that. I mean the way kids are assigned to the Houses. I think a lot of kids are assigned to the wrong House. Maybe... I don't know why." Goyle's mouth was emptying his reservoir of ideas faster than his brain was re-filling it. "I just think... I mean, look at Harry here - he hangs out with us, or that doofus Neville. Harry, when was the last time you spent time with your housemates?" Goyle brain finally managed to pull him out of the hole that his mouth had dug.

"Don't know, don't care" Harry shrugged. "They spend all their time doing homework. Hanging out with them is mind numbingly boring." Harry watched Draco struggle to roll another marijuana cigarette. His first was only half way done. "Uhm, Draco, I should probably bring some over to Neville, he did grow the stuff, you know.

Draco looked askance at Harry. "Pay be the 10 Galleons you owe me, and I'll hand it over," Draco smirked.

"What do I owe you the money for?" Harry asked defensively

"For the pleasure of my company." Draco smirked.

"That's cheap!" cackled Crabbe, "girls charge a lot more than that for 'pleasure'."

The other boys stopped and gaped at Crabbe.

"Are you calling me a prostitute?" Drawled Draco.

"No, dude. I didn't mean that. It came out wrong." Crabbe flushed in embarrassment.

"So what did you mean?" seeing Crabbe on the defensive, Draco asked more aggressively.

"Nothing. it was just a joke?" Crabbe grabbed up his books, "I got some homework I got to do. I'll see you" he walked off with make-believe urgency.

*Zero*Zero*

"Oh, man. I hate the Imperius drill" Neville groaned as he sat down at next to Harry at the Ravenclaw table. Luna edged over to make room

"Tell me about it." Harry said around a mouth full of roast beef, "It was kind of cool at first. Now it's just embarrassing. Has anybody in Gryffindor managed to beat the Curse yet?"

"Actually, yeah. Ron Weasley did, and then Seamus claims he has, just as Moody was ending the spell anyways, but I think he was just blowing hot air." Neville took a sip of pumpkin juice and started loading his plate.

"Ron? Really? I thought he was a slacker." This was from Terry, who was sitting a couple of seats down and on the other side.

"Yeah, mostly, but he's gotten real serious about DADA since his sister, you know, died." Neville took a bite of his lunch. "Are you certain the House Elves serve you guys the same food? The food at your table always tastes more bland."

"I heard a rumor that the Weasley twins were bribing the House Elves." this was from a sixth year at the end of the table. He had to almost yell to be heard over the general din of teenagers talking and eating lunch.

"Yeah, right" Terry snorted, "Who did you hear that from, one of the Slytherins? The Weasley's can't afford to bribe anybody. Not even a House Elf."

"Hey, they're not _that_ poor" Neville interrupted to defend his housemates.

"They could always offer to make a mess for them to clean up." Luna quietly inserted, but nobody except Harry heard her.

Harry turned to look at her with a speculative expression "That might work." he replied with dawning appreciation. "That just might work" Harry's eyes glazed over as he considered if there was anyway to use that tidbit to his advantage. Maybe having one of the House Elves spill some pumpkin juice on Parvati. No, that wouldn't work.

*Zero*Zero*

The following weeks went by in much the same pattern. It was setting up to be a regular school year, if a little less exciting than the previous two, when the workmen arrived to expand Hogwarts for the arrival of the foreign students.

Now, Harry, Terry and Crabbe stood at the entrance to what used to be an unused classroom as two wizards were expanding it into a common room for the Durmstrang students.

Terry was making note of what spells the wizards were casting.

"So, you going to go into construction, after you graduate?" quipped Harry.

Terry spared him a quick glance, "Probably not, but I noticed that the spells that they are using are not particularly complicated. I bet I could cast them, with a little practice. And it would be cool to have a larger bedroom, or a walk-in closet at home." he gave Harry a thin smile, "I'm going to give it a shot over winter break" He jotted down a couple of more spells to look up, as well as the order they were cast in, before adding, "Though Crabbe here looks like he may want to make a career of it."

The larger boy had been staring fixedly at the wizards as they manhandled and stretched the walls, which had been rendered oddly malleable with spells.

He glanced guiltily at the others, "What, it's honest work" he turned wand walked off.

Before Harry could also depart, Luna glided up to his side, "Harry, Dumbledore would like to see you."

Harry sighed and followed the blond girl to Dumbledore's office

"Ah, Harry, Luna, please take a seat." Dumbledore was seated at his desk, and Cedric, who, had momentarily stood up as the other students entered, sat to one side, "You are here because you both have been assigned to receive some tutoring, to work on a few areas where you are having a little difficulty." he smiled, to take the bite out of his words, but he continued on in a serious tone, "You both are experiencing similar deficits in your basic spell casting, which if not remedied now, will hamper your learning more advanced material" To Harry, this was nothing new - he had received a variant of this speech last year.

"To this end, you will be working with Mr. Diggory for the remainder of this semester" Harry nodded. Cedric wasn't too bad, for a Hufflepuff.

After the three teens had, with Dumbledore's input, worked out a tutoring, schedule, the two younger students left for dinner. "So, what do you need tutoring for?" Harry asked awkwardly as they walked back to the great hall. He wasn't particularly curious, but it was very uncomfortable walking next to somebody without acknowledging their presence. And since he wasn't really friends with Luna, he didn't know what else to say.

"I have difficulty focusing on the intent of the spell, so my wand motions tend to be distracted and imprecise."

"Oh," Harry replied, somewhat taken aback at the clinical self-diagnosis, "Uhm, I'm getting tutoring because I can't get the wand motions right."

"I know" Luna answered, "That is why we both prefer less Hermetic subjects, which don't make as much use of our wands" she smiled tentatively at Harry, and adjusted her radish shaped hair clip.

"Uh, yeah" Harry wasn't quite certain what she had said, and there seemed to be some weird undertone for WHY she said it, but despite usually being good at reading people, he couldn't make sense of that either.

They walked the rest of the way in silence.

*Zero*Zero*

"Pass me the twine" Neville held out his hand as he used his other to hold the rot vine against against a stake that would help support it. The stakes had to be replaced weekly, as they tended to rot.

It was after dinner, Harry and the Gryffindor boy were working on their herbology homework down in the greenhouse, or at least Neville was - he had undertaken a more challenging project then Harry for his independent study.

"So I took a look at the marijuana plant that you had me grow. According to what I was able to find on it, it's not legal in muggle Britain." Neville was careful to not sound accusatory. Harry was his friend, but he really, REALLY didn't like doing something that was against the rules. His grandmother had instilled that value very deep in his psyche, all the way back in in his lizard hind-brain.

"It's not illegal in wizarding England, though" Harry scratched his head sheepishly over having sort of deceived his friend.

"True." Neville finished tying up the vine and adjusted its position so that wouldn't get too much sun, "I did some calculations, and I think there are some potions it could be used in."

"You're supposed to smoke it." harry replied.

"We agreed that half of the plant is mine, and I can use it however I want. If I want to sell it for potion components, that's my business" Neville replied, a trifle sharply.

"Uh, about that..." Harry continued hesitantly. Neville stopped and looked at him, "Uhm, I'm not certain if half of the stash is still left."

"What? Harry, the muggle book I read said that it could be dangerous to take in large quantities..."

"I didn't smoke it" denied Harry.

There was a pause.

"Draco's kind of been selling it to the other Slytherins." Harry finally admitted.

Pause.

Pause.

"How much did he make?" Neville asked in morbid curiosity.

"Uhm", Harry looked even more embarrassed,"I don't know - he said the amount would cover my debt to him. But I don't remember borrowing money from him" Harry finished in a rush.

Neville stared at his friend before shaking his head with a bemused smile, "Harry, You're an idiot. And an asshole, but that I'm used to." Harry looked relieved, "You got to stop letting Draco treat you like shit. People will start thinking you're his girlfriend, or something"

"Don't be gross!" Harry frowned.

"I didn't mean to imply anything! Or to imply that it's ok to treat girls badly" Neville quickly backpedaled, "But you know that if Draco ever gets a date, it will be because of his dad's money, not his personality."

"Hey, he's not so bad, when he's not showing off for the other Slytherins."

Neville declined to comment that Draco never went anywhere without his Slytherin audience - Tweedledumb and Tweedledumber.

"Anyway, what do you think about the exchange students? I think they're coming at the end of the week." Neville began cleaning up his work area.

Harry shrugged, "I hear that they are mostly going to be sixth and seventh years, so I don't expect to have much contact with them." Harry paused, "Though, it's been fun watching the work crews expanding the castle. Is enlarging a structure always so easy with magic, or is it because Hogwarts is already heavily enchanted?"

"Magic makes everything easier," Neville replied nonchalantly. Of course, since he was from a wizarding family, his opinion was not the most objective, "I don't know if Hogwarts was intentionally enchanted, per se. I know that any house that wizards live in will absorb magic. That's where House Elves come from, after all. So with so many students maybe..."

"Wait a minute" Harry interrupted, "You mean that a house that wizards live in will spontaneously generate a House Elf?" He was rather skeptical.

"Yeah. I think so. It's got something to do with a magical family and their home, and the House Elf is like some sort of manifestation or nature spirit or something" Neville hunched a little in uncertainty, "Look, you're the Ravenclaw. Ask one of your housemates - I bet they know a lot more about it than I do."

*Zero*Zero*

It was early the next morning when the whole school was in an uproar - the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons were due to arrive today. Most of the student population was either milling outside or up on the overlooking castle walls. Dumbledore and the heads of house were waiting in the front courtyard.

Harry was sitting with Neville on a jutting block of stone by the main entrance to Hogwarts as they watched the flying coach descend.

"That's cool. I wish we had that instead of the Hogwarts express." Harry gawked. He liked flying, but he felt self conscious doing it when other people were around, so other than during broom class, he hadn't spent much time in the air.

Neville snorted. "You just like anything that flies. You should try out for quidditch"

"I would have this year, if they hadn't canceled it." Harry replied defensively.

"Well. the Weasley twins were saying that they were going to organize some informal games, just for fun. Talk to them."

Harry started to say something as the large carriage landed, but stopped as the door opened and the huge headmistress of Beauxbatons stepped daintily down the steps. "wow - she's hideous" Harry recoiled.

"Oh, I don't know. she's not bad if you like them large. " Draco had appeared at Harry's elbow, for once without his two cohorts. "I bet Crabbe's drooling on himself."

Neville snorted, "You mean that's something new?"

Draco paused, but decided not to get into an argument with Harry's other friend just to defend his pet thug.

As Madame Maxine, the headmistress, greeted Dumbledore in a typical Gaelic fashion, the rest of the Beauxbatons contingent filed out. Most of the students were dressed in light summer robes, and were not prepared for the cool Scottish autumn.

"Look" Neville pointed - an astonishingly beautiful seventh year had just exited the carriage, accompanied by a coterie of hangers on. The eyes of all the male students in third year and above snapped to her with an almost audible 'crack' and stayed glued.

Harry glanced at the stunning girl and then looked at his friends. Draco was even worse off than Neville - his mouth was slack, and he was starting to drool. "Guys? Neville? Draco?" he gave his friends a gentle shake snapping them out of their fugue

"She's gorgeous. I'm going to go talk to her." Draco started towards the carriage. Harry rolled his eye,"Draco, She's a seventh Year. She's so out of our league. There's no point."

Draco ignored him and kept walking. Harry sighed. He jumped down to follow his friend. Neville stayed rooted in place, blushing furiously as he stared at his feet.

"Hi, I'm Draco Malfoy, of the English Malfoys" He introduced himself to the beauty. He had to almost yell to be heard over the dozen or so other boys who were trying to introduce themselves as well.

The girl in question didn't even bother to stop, just marching regally through the crowd. One of her hangers on, a girl with her hair pulled back into a sever bun, dressed in formal but warm looking robes gave the lot of them a small apologetic smile and a shrug before following her friend.

"She didn't even stop!" Draco sounded heartbroken."

"Did you see that other girl with her? She looked familiar. And unless she's really short, I don't think she's a seventh year."

"Uhm, no." replied a confused Draco as he stumbled back towards Hogwarts.

Before he had gone more than a few steps, the lake started to bubble. All of the students turned to look, and fell silent. Some fingered their wands nervously. Into this ominous silence a sailing ship burst up from below the water.

"Oh, That must be the Durmstrang students!" Draco said, as the tension eased away, "I heard that they travel by ship."

The rest of the afternoon was spent gawking and talking to the visiting students

*Zero*Zero*

Harry was on his way to supper. He was pretty excited - word was that Dumbledore would be announcing who the Triwizard champions would be. He was taking a short cut through one of the musty third floor corridors - they were closed for renovation his first year, but it seems they were never re-opened, when he saw a Beauxbatons girl strolling, through the otherwise empty corridor.

"Uhm," Harry racked his brain for the gentlemanly thing to do in such a situation, "Are you lost, miss?" He said, trying to appear mature.

The girl turned and looked at him quickly for a moment - it was the sever looking girl who had been with Fleur. "Thank you, but I know my way around." she replied coolly as she turned to continue on her way.

"Uh, it's dinner time," Harry replied nonplused, "just so you know." harry added awkwardly.

The girl nodded, "I guess I did lose track of time. Thank you. I will be down shortly."

Harry considered hanging back and making sure the aloof girl wasn't going to get lost, but she seemed confident, and he felt awkward intruding, so he nodded and continued on his own.

*Zero*Zero*

During dinner, conversation revolved around the Triwizard Tournament, and about the odd chalice that was resting on a pedestal next to the staff table. As dinner was winding down, Dumbledore stood up.

"This is it - he's going to announce the competitors!" Simon whispered excitedly to Terry.

"Can I have your attention Please," Albus began, " First of all, I would like to welcome our gusts from the continent - the students and staff from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. They will be having classes with some of you, so please make them feel at home."

Albus paused to look around the hall in a grandfatherly way, "In addition Headmaster Karkaroff has kindly volunteered to teach a seminar on spell design to interested seventh year students," Dumbledore turned to the somewhat dour looking Durmstrang headmaster, who made an effort to smile and inclined his head, "and professor Loew from Beauxbatons will teach a seminar on Runes from other magical traditions." Albus turned to another visiting professor - a huge, dark skinned man sitting next to Hagrid. He stood up and bowed. He was oddly dressed, and was wearing a hat of some sort. The clothing looked like the sort a muggle worker might have worn in the late 19th century.

"Geeze, what do they feed them Frenchies?" Simon gawked "Are all the professors in Beauxbatons that large?"

"But the item that I imagine that you are all waiting to hear about is the Triwizard Tournament" the hall quieted as Albus spoke, "The way that the Champions will be chosen is that anyone who wishes to compete will place a parchment with their name into the Goblet of Fire" He pointed to the cup that was Harry had noticed earlier. Now that he looked closely at it, it did seem that there were small flames licking out of the top, "and on Monday evening, the cup will pick the best qualified student to represent the three schools. Every student 16 years and older is welcome to enter their name. To prevent underage wizards from putting in their names, the professors have inscribed an age line around the cup. Thank you for your attention. please enjoy the rest of your fine repast." Dumbledore sat down.

The hall exploded into noisy chatter.

"If the cup chooses the most qualified student, then why do you need an age line?" Harry asked, "There's no way a younger student would be as qualified as a seventh year."

"Liability" Terry poured himself some Pumpkin juice as he answered, "The Tournament can be pretty dangerous, and the cup is really old. Heck, it hasn't been used since the last Triwizard tournament. What if it doesn't work right and somebody gets hurt? Imagine the liability." Terry took a sip, "My father is a lawyer, and he's told me some pretty horrid stories about people getting sued for stuff that wasn't their fault, all because they weren't smart enough to avoid the liability. Trust me, Dumbledore is being smart."

"Well, the Weasley twins are already plotting on how they can get around the age line.." Neville slid into an empty seat next to Harry and grabbed a tart as the dessert trays appeared.

"Couldn't they just have an older student put their name in?" Simon asked, his mouth full of fudge.

Neville rolled his eyes, but Harry interrupted before he could say anything, "It's _Magic_, Simon" Honestly, even he knew the answer to this one. "It's all about intent." Harry knew he wasn't the best student in his year, but he sometimes wondered how Simon ended up sorted into Ravenclaw. He was an embarrassment.

"Shove it Potter. At least I can casts the spells" Simon growled.

"Guys, chill" Terry interrupted quickly, hoping to avoid a fight. Before anybody could say anything more, Andrew plopped down next to Terry, "Guys, you'll never guess who's with the Durmstrang students! Victor Krum! I can't believe I didn't see him when they arrived."

"That's because you were staring at that half-Veela, Fleur." Terry quipped.

"And you weren't?"

"Yeah, but all the guys were. At least the straight ones. I bet she's going to go to be a super-model or something when she graduates"

"Hey, Harry, were _you_ looking at Fleur?" Simon snarked (He didn't bother to ask his muggleborn friend what a 'super model' was. He was used to the weird terms that Terry used sometimes)

"Of course I looked!" Harry defended himself, "But I didn't make a fool of myself. Not like Draco."

"Draco doesn't need to 'make' a fool of himself" muttered Neville, but Harry didn't catch it. Dinner continued in a similar fashion, with the excitement almost palpable as the older students worked up their courage to put their names in, and the younger ones argued over who would get picked.

*Zero*Zero*

"Move you arm, not just your hand" Cedric instructed. Harry and Luna were at their weekly tutoring session with Cedric. The classroom was otherwise empty, with most of the desks piled neatly against one of the walls.

"PROTEGO!" Harry tried the spell again.

Cedric winced at Harry's yell, but decided not to say anything and concentrate on the real issue. "Now you stuck your elbow out. but it still wasn't moving. Here, watch Luna"

"Protego" The third year obliging pronounced, with a loose swish of her wand. A sparkling blue shield appeared in front of her. After a moment, the shield broke apart into myriad twinkling lights.

Cedric, who was sitting on a desk, turned back to Harry, "try it."

"Protego!" Harry jerked his arm abruptly through the correct motion. An intense blue light appeared centered on the tip of his wand.

"Hmm. Better, but not quite there yet." Cedric forced a smile, keeping his exasperation to himself. "Ok, Luna, lets see if we can increase the power of your spells. Lets try a Wingardium Leviosa on this chair"

The blond girl brushed back her hair, glanced quickly at Harry and then jutted her head forward like a bird before pronouncing the spell with an artistic swish of her wand.

The back corner of the chair lifted up. For a moment, it looked like the rest of the chair would follow, but then it started to pivot on one leg. Luna's face broke into a radiant smile as it spun like a ballerina.

"Concentrate"

After a quick glance at Cedric, Luna tried to regain control of the chair. It obediently, if somewhat wobbly, floated upwards,

"Good! Very good!" Cedric beamed "This is progress. Slow and steady wins the day".

*Zero*Zero*

"I don't see why they don't allow fourth years to put their names in," Whined Draco. "it should be based on magical power, not age." The champions would be announced that evening, and the excitement was palpable.

"And you think you are a better mage than the seventh years?" Harry asked. They were sitting in the DADA classroom, waiting for professor Moody.

"Of course. Magic is in the blood, and the Malfoys have a pure lineage going back centuries. And you know that Father has been giving me lessons over the summer, so I am technically far advanced of my peers."

Since Draco was in fact better than him in most subjects, Harry accepted the statement at face value, but Terry, who was sitting behind Harry (and was in competition with Su Li for the top spot in their year), quirked an eyebrow at this statement. "Then why are you in all fourth year classes?"

"Because Father wishes me to continue my education with my peers - social connections are very important. So he mostly tutors me in subjects not covered in the Hogwarts curriculum." Draco smirked arrogantly.

"Class, we will be hosting one of the visitors from Beauxbatons," Mad-eye Moody stomped in, followed by the severe looking girl that Harry had seen wandering the halls. "Miss Hermione Granger is a fourth year, but she is taking most of her classes with the upper classes, so you will only be seeing her in Defense Against the Dark Arts" Moody pronounced "please make her feel welcome."

Hermione nodded her head by way of acknowledgment and made her way to an empty seat in the front of the class.

"Oh, I heard about that one. Supposed to be one of the brightest witches in her year at Beauxbatons." Whispered Terry, obviously seeing this as a challenge.

"Is there something you would like to share with the class, Mr Boots?" Mad Eye Moody asked without turning from the blackboard.

"Err, no sir."

"Very well then. you just volunteered to practice with the Imperius first today."

*Zero*Zero*

Harry watched as one of the Weasley twins walked into the great hall for lunch on Monday. "What's with the beard" he asked Neville.

"The twins tried to circumvent the age line on the Goblet last night by taking an aging potion they made up." Replied neville, cutting himself a piece of quiche. "It didn't work"

Harry rolled his eyes. He was sitting at the Gryffindor table today, "Duh. A disguise isn't going to work. Dumbledore isn't a simpleton"

Neville snickered as he watched the bearded twin. Whichever one it was, he was making the most of it until the potion wore off, hamming it up as 'old man Weasley'.

"Neville, can I count on you to support SPEW?" Asked Parvati, shoving a glowing button towards the boy.

"Spew?" Harry asked in confusion, thinking about Dudley that one time he tried Petunia's cooking sherry.

"The Society for Preservation of Elvish Welfare. S.P.E.W. it's a student organization I am forming to fight for the rights of House Elves." Parvati threw her hair over her shoulder and looked proudly down at Harry.

"Parvati, there is no way that could work." Neville replied, shaking his head in confusion.

"Padma said the same thing, but it's because your both indoctrinated by the system. Only a freethinker will realize how unfairly we treat our minority populations."

"Padma, they're not a 'minority population'" started Neville when Harry interrupted.

"I'll help! What do I do?"

Parvati looked acidly at her only volunteer before giving a sigh of resignation. "Here: take the box of materials. I'm going to talk to the other houses." She flipped her hair over her shoulder and flounced of. Harry picked up the big box of brochures and staggered after her.

*Zero*Zero*

"Shove off, Patil" growled a seventh year Slytherin before turning back to the essay he was busily writing between bites of chicken.

"Humf" Parvati gave an offend huff as she took a step back,

"Where next?" asked Harry around the box he was holding. He could see that the Slytherins were uninterested in what Parvati had to say. Many of the boys were stealing glances at the Beauxbatons table that was next to theirs. Or at one Beauxbatons girl, to be specific. "Maybe we should talk to Fleur Delacour?"

Parvati turned to look skeptically at harry. "Her?" her voice dripped venom.

"Yeah. She's a leader. Whatever she does, her friends will follow. So if you can convince her, you get more bang for your buck" Harry nattered on, obliviously to the intricate female hierarchy that he was trampling through in his oblivious male fashion..

Parvati turned to look consideringly at Harry before a smile broke out on her face, "I guess there's a reason you sorted into Ravenclaw. Come on"

*Zero*Zero*

"You are a stupid girl" Fleur's words were accented, but easily comprehensible.

Parvati gaped at such a direct rebuttal, "but I didn't finish..."

Fleur didn't bother turning around, but several of hangers-on watched Parvati with amusement, smiling into their hands.

"Patil, I can see why you didn't make the cut for Ravenclaw with your sister." Harry peered around the box to look who was speaking - it was Hermione, sitting at Fleur's side. "A little preliminary research would have shown you that House Elves are NOT independent sentient creatures. They are constructs. i.e. 'things'" Hermione sneered, "though given your worship of all things materialistic, I am not surprised you can't make the distinction."

Hermione turned back to join in Fleur's conversation, leaving, a flabbergasted Parvati standing open mouthed.

The Gryffindor girl snapped her jaw shut, pivoted on her heels and stormed out of the hall, leaving Harry standing in confusion.

"Why don't you put the box down. It looks heavy." Harry looked to see Hermione had turned back around, "She'll come back for it if she wants it."

"I agreed to help her out."

Hermione rolled her eyes before replying gently "There is no need for you to get caught up in that girl's craziness." She paused with a frown, "Unless you agree with..."

"No!" Harry quickly denied, putting the box down, "I was just being nice. You know, it seemed like a good idea."

"Being nice is over rated. You can be nice all you want, but nobody will be nice back to you" There was a note of bitterness to Hermione's tone. Harry considered her words for a moment. He really didn't know how to reply: what she said made sense, but he knew that there had to be something wrong with her idea. He shrugged and followed Parvati.

*Zero*Zero*

"So how come you aren't mooning over Fleur like Draco and the rest of the idiots?" Harry asked as he and Neville re-entered the castle. They were walking back from Care of Magical Creatures.

"Uhm," Neville blushed before replying quietly, "It's because there's someone I already like."

Harry's face broke out in a mischievous grin, "anybody I know?"

"She's in Hufflepuff. " muttered Neville.

"So, you asked her out yet?"

Neville shook his head vehemently, "no way. I got to do it right!"

Harry was about to ask what Neville meant when the two boys ran into Ron Weasley, "Hey, Potter - you taking the Foreign Runes seminar with Professor Loew?"

"Yeah, it looked interesting," Harry replied, not mentioning that any class that didn't require a wand was a chance to bring up his abysmally low grades, "you?"

"Yeah. I think the classroom moved down this way." The youngest Weasley pointed.

Harry sighed, "stupid Hogwarts. Ok, I guess I'll see you later, Neville."

Harry joined Ron as the two boys turned to track down the rogue classroom.

*Zero*Zero*

"Welcome to Foreign Runes" rumbled the huge professor. He stood at least seven feet tall, and was dressed oddly in what looked like outdated muggle clothing, with a trenchcoat in place of a robe, and 1930's dockworkers cap pulled down low on his bald head. His skin was a rich brown.

"My name is Adam Loew, and I will be teaching about the uses of written magic in non hermetic magical traditions. We will also delve into some arithmancy, as the two subjects are often tied together. Don't worry - we aren't going to get too technical - this is more of a survey class, to broaden your perspectives." He smiled, "That is one of the advantages of a class like this - I don't have to follow a set curriculum, and I can teach whatever I like."

Ron and Harry had made it to the class just in time. Professor Loew did not interrupt his introduction as the pair slid into the only open spots in the small classroom - right up front, with Hermione Granger.

The strict girl gave them a quick scowl before turning back to hear what the teacher had to say. The class was made up of a mix of fourth years from all the houses.

"We will start by studying Japanese Onmyodo, but we will also go over Hebraic and Egyptian magics in the second semester." Professor Loew held up what looked like a stack of note cards held together by a round metal loop at one corner. "these are O-Fuda, Japanese mages who follow the Onmyodo tradition use these in place of a wand. Here, I am going to pass these around. Please handle them carefully." He handed one stack of O-Fuda to Hermione, and another to Harry, "as you can see, each slip of paper has several pictograms written on them. Each one goes with a particular spell." Adam held up a full sized sheet of paper with two pictograms on it, "For instance, this one is part of a spell that acts like the Wingardium Leviosa spell. To cast the spell, the mage would tear off this sheet and throw it into the air, at the same time pronouncing the proper word."

Ron's hand shot up like it had been hit by a Wingardium Leviosa itself, "Professor, wouldn't that make it impractical to cast spells in a hurry? The Japanese mage would have to spend a long time flipping through to the correct page before he could cast a spell."

"No - the binders are enchanted to present the correct page based on what spell the wizard is pronouncing. Many newer ones are also enchanted to duplicate the sheets, so that the same spell came be cast as often as the wizard desires without running out of O-Fuda."

Harry and the other students scribbled notes as the professor spoke.

*Zero*Zero*

The great hall was filled with noise as the whole school waited to hear who the Goblet would select. "Why are we using an oversized Norman beer mug to make an important decision." Except for Luna, apparently. The odd girl was sitting opposite Harry and staring intently at him as she mused, "I know that it is traditional, but you have to wonder how it started. Were the headmasters of the three schools sitting around a table, having a drinking contest, when one of them had the brilliant idea of pitching their students into a deadly competition?"

Harry continued to look at his plate as he ate, trying to avoid the intense stare from Luna's oversized eyes. "so your theory is that they enchanted the goblet because it was handy?" Harry asked with bemusement. Despite being socially awkward, Luna was entertaining.

"Exactly - they needed some way to pick the best candidates, and in their inebriated state, a goblet made a lot of sense. Of course, that raises the question of the Sorting Hat. Either the founders spent a substantial amount of time drinking as well, or the Wrackspurt population in England at the time must have been out of control."

"Oh, shut up, Looney" Draco sat himself down next to Harry, "you want to put some galleons on who get selected as the Hogwarts Champion? I'm running a pool. The current contenders are Graham Montague, Cedric Diggory and Pamela McClursky. Though the smart money is on Montague."

"Sorry, Draco, but I don't have any money." Harry accepted Draco's scorn of Luna without comment.

"Don't worry, I'll put it on your tab, with the rest."

"No. And I've never borrowed money from you" Harry replied vehemently.

"Says you" said Draco as he got up to go find more last minute victims.

Luna nodded, "an an overabundance of Wrackspurts caused their food supply to become greatly diminished, and the Wrackspurt population collapsed down to its present level." She glared at Draco's back. "because there is nothing left for them to eat."

"What?" Harry looked up in confusion.

"Never you mind," Luna patted his hand condescendingly, "go back to your food, and remember, chew first, *then* swallow" she got up and drifted away.

Harry was still confused when Dumbledore stood up, "can I have your attention, please. As you may have noticed, we have several guests today. On my left is Ludo Bagman, The Triwizard Tournament is his brainchild. And this is Bartemius Crouch, the head of Department of International Magical Cooperation. They will be managing the competition. Mr Bagman."

"Thank you, Headmaster," a small, balding man stepped forward, "It is time to call on the Goblet of Fire to select the Champions for this grand competition between the three preeminent wizarding schools in all of Europe. This Tournament will give you an opportunity to meet your peers from the other schools, and make connections that will stand you in good stead throughout your careers. I don't want to take up to much of your time - I know you are all as excited to see who will be competing as I am, so without further ado, lets see what the Goblet has to say!"

The three headmasters and two ministry officials walked over to the goblet, and Crouch tapped it twice with his wand.

Flames shot up two feet into the air, then fell back and died out.

Nothing happened

Karkaroff looked quizzically at the Goblet, and started to draw his wand to check for any problems when, with a loud spitting sound, a piece of paper was ejected from the goblet.

Bagman snatched it from the air with an impressive show of reflexes and carefully unrolled the slightly damp parchment.

"For the Durmstrang Academy, the Champion will be Victor Krum!"

Cheering broke out, but was interrupted as the Goblet flared up again, and then extinguished.

A second sheet of paper shot up.

"For The Hogwarts School of magic, the Champion will be Cedric Diggory!"

Loud cheering broke out again, especially from the Hufflepuff table, who had all placed large bets in support of their housemate with Draco. The blond boy in question was at the Slytherin table, calculating something furiously on a the back of a napkin.

"And last, but certainly not least, we have Fleur Delacour, representing Beauxbatons!"

More applause, which was interrupted as the Goblet flared a fourth time. This time the flames shot at least four feet in the air with a loud 'whoosh', where they hung in the air for several moments before fading away. Before the students could decide what to make of that, the goblet made a loud vomiting sound and propelled a fourth wad of paper that shot into the back of Dumbledore's head, knocking his hat off.

As he bent to pick up his hat, Madame Maxine retrieved the paper.

"What iz thiz!" the never-demure Headmistress interjected, "This says that one Harry Potter is ALSO a Hogwarts Champion!"

END

As always, reviews are appreciated - let me know what you think, what you want to see more of, etc.


	3. Chapter 3

"That's not fair! Hogwarts can't have two champions"

"He's too young"

"Maybe we can have him compete under a different school."

"Hey, Potter, how did you pull that off?"

The great hall exploded into turmoil when Harry was announced as the fourth champion.

"So, how did you do it?" the two Weasley twins sat down on either side of Harry, displacing the other Ravenclaws (and earning dirty looks).

"I didn't do anything." Harry replied in horror, "I don't want to be a champion" Harry looked up to the staff table, hoping for a reprieve, but the headmasters were huddled together for a quiet yet obviously heated discussion. _'My life is over. the whole school is going to murder me for screwing up the Tournament.'_

"Well, it's still the best prank of the year." said the twin on the right, slapping Harry on the back.

"But the year is still young" warned Lefty.

"You do know, that with how hard the Tasks are, you're probably a dead man." smiled Righty.

Harry was getting dizzy from whipping his head back and forth. But at least it prevented him from having time to worry about the situation.

"Retract you name immediately!" Fleur stormed over.

"He can't - the Goblet creates a magical binding. He has to compete," This was from Hermione, who was at Fleur's elbow, "You know, Harry, this was very foolish. The Tasks are much too difficult for a fourth year, even an exceptionally talented one."

"Harry's not talented. He's at the bottom of the class" snorted Simon, "You're dead, Potter."

"Now, now. He managed to do something even we weren't able to pull of. He must have some undisclosed talents," One of the twins put an arm around Harry shoulders.

The other twin added, "we will be more than happy to help out. Maybe with training."

"Well, he should change affiliation to another school. it is not fair." Even Krum had joined the crowd around Harry.

"No! Harry stays as a Hogwarts champion" Draco pushed his way in, "He's a student here, so he HAS to be a Hogwarts champion" He looked desperate.

"Harry, could you please come up with me," Flitwick led Harry up to the staff table,

Dumbledore looked very grave, while Karkaroff and Madame Maxine looked irritated. Bartemius Crouch scowled, "Mr Potter, did you put your name into the Goblet in some fashion?"

"No, sir! I had nothing to do with it. I don't even WANT to be a contestant." Harry shook his head, desperate to get out of the very awkward situation.

"I am very sorry to say, Mr Potter that because of the nature of the Goblet of Fire, you will have to compete." Ludo replied. He seemed to be at a loss as to what to do.

"But I am only in fourth year. I'll get killed!" Harry wailed. His look of sheer terror was starting to get sympathy from the Headmasters present.

"Hmm, yes. I believe that you are being honest with us." Dumbledore sighed and stroked his beard in thought. Even the other two headmasters seemed to unbend a little at Harry's desperation. "We will have to arrange some extra classwork for you. Some sort of accelerated study program."

"But within the rules of the Tournament - it must be general prep, not training for the specific tasks" interjected Ludo Bagman. Madame Maxine nodded in agreement.

"For now, go join the other Champions. We will need to look into what our options are." Dumbledore motioned for Harry to move along.

"And punish whoever thought it would be funny to put a fourth year's name into the Goblet," snarled Karkaroff.

*Zero*Zero*

That evening, Dumbledore's study was expanded to host an emergency staff meeting. In attendance were not only the Hogwarts professors, but also the visitors from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. With Hagrid, Madame Maxine and Adam in the same room, it felt very crowded, despite having been expanded enough to accommodate everybody.

"So, what shall we do about Mr. Potter." Asked Albus. He was seated at his desk, his hands clasped in front of his beard. "He is correct - he is dangerously under-qualified for this Tournament."

"He is a below average student. He does well enough on the theoretical aspects, but he has trouble with the practicum." Flitwick dissected his student.

"Hmm," rumbled Adam Loew, "I have not know Harry very long, but he seems like an adequate student. Not a wunderkid, but studious."

McGonagall adjusted her papers before adding, "Adam, you are reinforcing what Filius has already brought to our attention, that in subjects that are purely theoretical, Harry is an acceptable student. Unfortunately, the tournament requires practical application of magic, and at that, he is woefully inadequate."

"Only in wand work, though - in my class he is boring and uninspired, but he can do cookbook potions. He is no worse than the typical fourth year" Frowned Snape, "his main flaw is that he is too scared to move."

Flitwick nodded in agreement, "He is too tight, and his motions are too small. The spells he does best at are one that involve linear wand motions."

McGonagall shook her head, "I don't know if that is the main issue. There are many shy students, but in my class, that has rarely been an impediment. It is often the socially withdrawn children that do best at transfiguration." The Gryffindor head of house sat ramrod straight in her chair, hands folded in her lap. "But Potter has made almost no progress since first year. He still has to struggle to make the simplest transfiguration, even if he understands the theory, and the wand motions are adequate."

"I don't know if its of any value for this Tournament, but he is a good student in herbology" Professor sprout added over her knitting.

"I say he just needs more exercise. The boy is too small." Volunteered Hagrid, shifting gently in his chair, so as not to break it. Again.

"So what do you propose we do?" asked Albus.

"I am not certain what we CAN do. The boy listens, but he does not hear."

Filius nodded, "I would be happy to tutor him, but no matter what I teach, he just doesn't learn."

"Maybe a different approach might help. Hearing the same idea but phrased differently might make get around his block." Adam, despite his large bulk did not have the same difficulty with chairs as Hagrid. Possibly because he didn't fidget the way the half giant did, like a nervous schoolboy. "I can try some training exercises that may improve his wand work."

"Thank you for your kind offer, Adam. I will consider it. Filius, I believe Harry is currently getting tutoring from Mr Diggory. Given that they will be competing against each other, it smacks of impropriety."

Pomona Sprout looked up from her knitting, looking offended.

"I am not suggesting that Cedric would take advantage of the situation - he is a remarkably honest and honorable young man," Albus reassured, "but this Tournament will be the center of a certain amount of media attention, so it is best that we don't do anything that could be misperceived."

The head of Hufflepuff nodded in agreement.

"Thus, Filius, I would be grateful if you could take over tutoring Harry for this year."

"Certainly" the diminutive professor chirped.

*Zero*Zero*

"I am so dead," moaned Harry. He sat slumped in a chair, with his head in his hands. Harry was hiding out in an unused classroom. _'If the I don't die in one of the tasks, then the 'Puffs will murder me in my sleep for messing up Cedric's chances. And the Gryffindors. They were pretty pissed too.'_

"You have to try, but you don't have to win," Draco reassured the anxious Ravenclaw. He was sprawled on a bean bag chair that he had transfigured from a desk. "Just put in the minimum effort, and concentrate the rest of your efforts on stating alive."

"Why is Draco so determined to have Harry compete?" Crabbe whispered to Goyle. the pair were sitting by the door. Goyle was whittling something, while Crabbe had been content to sit quietly and await his leader.

Goyle looked up from what he was working on - it was a carving of some four legged animal. Or possibly road kill. "Remember the pool that Draco had, for who would be the Hogwarts champion? I think Draco's trying to weasel out of paying the 'Puffs. They all placed bets on Cedric."

"How's he going to do that" Crabbe's eyebrow scrunched up in thought. It looked like two bears mating.

"Don't know" Goyle turned back to his carving. "I guess we'll find out soon enough. Shit" he had accidentally loped off one of the carving's limbs - either the tail or one of the hind legs. It wasn't clear. With heavy sigh, he held it up to the light and inspected it, turning it from side to side, as he tried to find some way to fix it. "badgers are tail-less, right?"

"Flitwick says he's going to tutor me." Harry shook his head, "But I don't see how extra charms will help. I suck at that class. There's no way I am going to get good enough in time for the first task."

"Idiot." Draco exclaimed, "That's what I am saying. Don't try to learn all the charms that you need to win - just learn the ones you need to stay alive. You know, Protego, maybe the Notice-Me-Not, stuff like that."

"So your saying I should aim to lose?"

"Hey, stick with what you're good at." Draco punched Harry in the shoulder.

"Maybe"_ 'If I lose, then the Puffs won't kill me.'_

*Zero*Zero*

Harry sat at his desk, screwing up his courage as the Foreign Runes class wound to an end.

"Ok, that will be all for today. I would like to see the essay on the effects of stroke order by next monday. You can work with whichever Kanji you want, but I recommend choosing one of the ones I provided." As professor Loew finished speaking, the students all started putting their papers away and heading out the door.

"Uhm, professor?" Harry approached the giant man tentatively. Despite being clean shaven, he somehow managed to appear fiercer than Hagrid, "I was wondering if you could teach me Onmyodo?"

Adam looked down at the boy, "I always approve of learning, but I am curious as to why."

Harry looked abashed, but continued anyway, "I'm not very good at wand magic. And with the tournament... I was hoping to learn how to cast spells with the O-Fuda."

"Hmmm." rumbled Adam, "I can't help you with the Onmyodo - I am not a practitioner, but I know some techniques that may help keep you alive. They may even improve your wand magic."

Harry looked up hopefully, "yes?"

"I also teach self-defense, though not at Beauxbatons."

"You mean, like Karate?"

"Yes, except less formal. What I teach won't win you any martial art competitions, but it may keep you alive."

"Staying alive is good." replied Harry.

"Yes, it is a worthy goal," smiled Professor Loew, revealing two rows of tombstone-like teeth. "If you wish, we can start this afternoon."

"You mean, like now?"

The professor inclined his head "Classes are over for the day. So unless you have something more urgent?"

"Uh, no - should we go outside?"

"No, a classroom will give us more privacy. Beside, the weather has turned decidedly chilly."

*Zero*Zero*

"Step"

Harry took a step the weird way Adam had showed him, and threw a punch.

"Good. Step"

Harry swept his other foot in an outward crescent and threw another punch.

"Bend your knees - you are too high."

Harry had been working in this transfigured classroom for a half hour, and his legs were burning with fatigue. But if this would keep him from getting killed, it was worth it.

"Ok, enough of the basics. Stand up and shake out your legs. Now it's time to use your head."

"Uh, do I need a helmet?"

Professor Loew laughed. It sounded like gravel going through a garbage disposal (A sound Harry was familiar with. Vernon stilled hadn't figured out why the 'cheap Chinese knockoff' had stopped working.)

Harry tried to concentrate his attention back on what Professor Loew was saying, "No, Harry, I meant that this next part requires thinking. You will be learning combinations of moves. It's just like learning a language. The punch and kicks and throws are the vocabulary. Now you need to learn the grammar - how to put them together to communicate your idea effectively." Another laugh rumbled from the giant instructor. He was still dressed in his usual trench-coat and dockworkers hat, but Harry's clothing had been replaced by a martial arts gi. As they trained, Harry noticed that Professor Loew also had some sort of scar on his forehead, but it was covered by the cap.

"So first I will show you block-strike entry forms."

An hour later, Harry staggered back to his dorm and collapsed into bed.

*Zero*Zero*

The following morning Harry was chowing down on breakfast and trying to decide if another class with 'Sensei Loew' was worth the pain he was now feeling when Parvati walked up.

"Harry, You ready for SPEW?" She asked sweetly. She had been much friendlier since Harry had volunteered to help out.

Harry chortled in amusement, pumpkin juice dribbling down his chin. He made a quick grab for a napkin as Parvati looked away in disgust.

"Why yes, yes he is!" Answered Andrew, who had been sitting close by.

"I'm coming." Harry stood up quickly, throwing his napkin onto his half-finished meal.

"Good - I need help with the fliers."

As the two turned to leave, a voice drifted in, "I think I would like to see what you do - my daddy works in publishing." Luna wafted after them.

"Uhm" Parvati's smile became fixed. On the one hand, extra members were always welcome, but on the other hand, she didn't want to have the group be branded as weirdoes by associations.

"I might be able to get daddy to make up some buttons for you, at a discount" Luna smiled.

"Ok, come on then" Parvati decided.

As they walked towards the club room, Harry turned to Parvati, "I'm glad you don't think I put my name into the Goblet. It seems like half the school thinks I'm some sort of self absorbed glory hound."

"Oh, no - I think it's kind of cool to have somebody I know competing in such an important contest" Parvati smiled, basking in the (imagined) reflected glory.

Luna rolled her eyes.

*Zero*Zero*

"So what are we going to do today?" chirped Colin Creevy. The excitable boy was one of seven people at the SPEW meeting.

"We need to print up some fliers. We'll put some up in the great hall, and we can put others in the common rooms, and we can hand out the rest to interested students."

Lavender Brown, the secretary of the group, sat with her (shapely) legs crossed as she scribbled notes on a parchment perched on her lap. The group was meeting in an empty classroom, but Parvati had declared the desks too stifling, so they were sitting in a circle, with the desks pushed off to one side.

Harry's attention kept returning to the legs.

"Sounds good. Too bad we don't have anybody from Slytherin" Sally Ann Perks said.

"Well, I guess helping others isn't high on their list of priorities" snarked Hannah Abbot.

The seven students spent the next half hour debating what exactly to put on the poster.

"I still say we need a photo. A picture is worth a thousand words." Collin held up his camera.

"But how will we sneak into somebody's house to take photos of abused House Elves?" Parvati asked.

"I'm not breaking into anybody's house" Lavender was indignant at the very thought.

"Yeah - I not going to risk getting vaporized by some wards just for a couple of photos" added Harry.

As nobody had anything constructive to ay, the meeting soon descended into gossip.

"I have to get to class." Collin grabbed his camera. He was soon followed by most of the other club members. Harry stayed in the hopes of getting a private word with Parvati. But she was chatting with Lavender.

Luna, who had been scribbling something in the margins of a folded up copy of the quibbler interrupted without looking up ."You know, there are House Elves at Hogwarts."

"Where?" asked Parvati, horrified.

"The kitchen, I presume. They make all the food."

"So my meals are prepared by slave labor?" Parvati looked somewhat ill.

"Well, our next task is now clear - we have to find the kitchens" Pronounce Lavender. After a pause to think, she added, "And stop eating!"

*Zero*Zero*

"I can't believe that you are going along with the SPEW nonsense" Neville was walking with Harry to his tutoring session with Flitwick.

"Well, Parvati is hot."

"Attractive. You're not going to get a girlfriend unless you treat girls with respect." chided Neville.

Harry rolled his eyes, "Whatever." they walked companionably in silence for a couple of minutes before Harry added, "Maybe I'll ask her out after the next meeting."

"That's what you said last time."

"Oh, and how are you doing with the mystery girl?"

"Good" muttered Neville, turning red.

"So you've asked her out?"

"Not exactly."

The duo reached the Charms classroom, to find Luna waiting for them. "Hello, Luna. What are you here?"

"I am here for tutoring., same as you. Pomona has regretfully informed me that Cedric was too busy with everything he needed to do to also be tutoring."

"Ah."

"I'll see you later" Neville waved and continued on his way

*Zero*Zero*

"Reparo"

Harry finished with the swish and flick of the spell, and the ceramic cup fused back together. Professor Flitwick stepped forward and inspected the piece.

"Hmm. Not bad. You are doing much better Harry. Your wand motions have become more fluid. Just remember, stay relaxed until the flick." Flitwick glanced over Luna, who was trying to maintain a Wingardium Leviosa on two cow bells.

"That's what Professor Loew also says." Harry replied, bringing the diminutive professors back to him. "Stay loose until the final moment. But he's referring to punches`"

"Oh, are you learning boxing with Professor Loew?" asked Flitwick, curious.

"It's not boxing - it's some sort of martial arts. There are bunch of different strikes - punches, kicks, open hand strikes. And yesterday he taught me how to fall." Harry paused for a moment before adding, "Which is a lot more fun than it sounds."

"Can I see" asked the bemused professor. Luna quietly lowered her bells to the floor and turned to watch as well (she was very proud of the fact they touched down without once clanging)

"Ok. The basic is the front roll" Harry put his right arm up over his head like a shield and threw himself head first at the floor. As he hit the ground, he rolled and pushed up. He was back on his feet without ever coming to a stop in between.

"Dear me. Wouldn't that be more comfortable with a mat under you?"

"Yeah I guess," Answered Harry, neglecting to mention that when Dudley pushed him down, he usually didn't check to see if there was a mat out first. "You can do it backwards too." Harry hooked his right leg behind his left, tripping himself. He landed with a loud thump - his left arm had shot out and slapped into the floor - before rolling sideways into a crouch.

"Are you ok" asked Luna at the loud noise.

Harry looked sheepish. "Yeah, I'm fine - it's just a noisy move. They are all pretty easy - you just have to twist the right way. The only one I had trouble with was doing the forward roll without touching the ground - I mashed my shoulder pretty bad on that one." He announced proudly.

"And how often are you doing this?" asked Harry's head of house, with mild concern.

"Oh, Professor Loew is training me every day, but it's not always as exciting." Harry bubbled enthusiastically.

"Well, it is possible that the physical exercise is helping with your wand work, so do continue in your spare time, but right now, let us concentrate on charms for the last 5 minutes before dinner." Flitwick tapped the cup with his wand, and it shattered again. "remember, visualize the cup as you cast the spell."

Harry gave a groan - the pieces were smaller this time.

*Zero*Zero*

As Luna and Harry walked to the great hall, she asked, "Do you mind if I come watch your exercises with Professor Loew? Rolling like that would be very useful if a Blithendor tries to sneak up on you - they are very cowardly, you know, and will run away if their prey sees them." she took on her typical spaced out look as she finished.

"Uh, yeah, I guess." Harry quickly turned towards the Slytherin table as they entered the great hall. "By" he waved quickly

Harry sat down next to Draco and his goons, "Oh god. Luna is completely insane."

"So?" Goyle said around what looked like an entire potato shoved into his mouth.

"Yeah, well she keeps telling me her stupid ideas. And there's no way to stop her." Harry relaxed - the Slytherin table was a Luna-free zone.

"Actually, it's pretty easy - just tell her that she is a fucking moron." drawled Draco.

"I couldn't do that!" Harry was taken aback,"She's in my House. And stuff."

"What stuff?" asked Crabbe, "You got the hots for Looney? She's a little flat for my taste, but maybe that floats your boat."

Harry shook his head an emphatic no. He then glanced around to see if anybody was listening, "No. I'm interested in Parvati." he almost whispered.

"So that's why you are in SPEW," smiled Draco, "It's smart thinking like that that got you sorted into Ravenclaw" Draco slapped the embarrassed Harry on the shoulder.

"Are there any other girls in SPEW?" asked Goyle.

"Uh, it's mostly girls - Parvati, Lavender, Luna, Hannah and Sally-Ann. Colin Creevy is the only other boy."

"And I don't know if the little poof counts." chortled Crabbe.

"Hannah Abbot?" asked Goyle thoughtfully.

"Yeah," Harry replied to Goyle before turning to Crabbe, "what do you mean about Colin?"

"I mean he's gay. I heard the Weasley twins laughing about how 'Colin Creepy' was hitting on Ron."

That comment killed the conversation, as none of the boys knew how to respond. At the same time, Dumbledore stood up.

"Please don't let me interrupt your dinner, I just would like to announce that the first task of the Triwizard Tournament will be two weeks from this Saturday. Each student can invite two guests to come to the event, and there will be other tickets available though the school office. Thank you for your attention" Dumbledore returned to his seat.

Harry put his head in his hands, "I'm going to die."

Crabbe nodded in agreement, "In public."

"Oh, I bet the first task isn't going to be that tough - they'll save the really scary stuff for the last task." Draco reassured.

Oddly, it actually was somewhat reassuring. As Harry looked up, with a wry smile, Theodore Nott leaned over to Draco, "that reminds me - put me down for 10 galleons on the third task."

"What's that?" asked Harry.

Draco made shushing motions, but Nott answered, "Draco is running a pool on when you die."

"Way to go, you screwed the odds now," Crabbe grouched.

Harry didn't even bat an eye that Draco expected him die during the Tournament. "I thought you gave up on the whole betting thing after you screwed up the 'Hogwarts Champion' pool."

"It would have been fine if Snape hadn't made me give all the money back."

"You told people that since there were two Hogwarts champions, the contest was void, and you were going to keep all the money," added Nott with a touch of admiration.

"Yeah, but the suck-ups in Hufflepuff told on me to Snape."

"What I want to know is what the first task is. So can you stop screwing around with your betting and give some help here?" asked Harry plaintively.

There was a silence as the Slytherin looked blank. Goyle fidgeted awkwardly.

Draco finally said "Yeah, I guess. I'll see what I can find out."

*Zero*Zero*

Harry snatched at Hermione's sleeve as she left Foreign runes. "Hey, can you help me with something?"

"What do you want" she frowned.

Harry waved her to come with him down the corridor in the opposite direction from the other students. "you're really good with the Onmyodo stuff. Could you help me to learn to cast spells with this?" he held up a stack of O-Fuda.

"I... I don't really know that much more than what Professor Loew has taught us."

"But you can pronounce the Kanji!" he waved the pile of magic papers.

"My family went to Japan over the summer, I learned a little Japanese. That's all" the prim girl shrugged, obviously reluctant to admit that there was something she didn't know, but also not certain she wanted to get pulled into Harry's problems..

"That's more than anybody else in the school can do. I even asked Terry Boots!"

"What about Professor Loew?" Hermione was flattered, but not convinced.

"This is for the Triwizard Tournament, and he can't help because he's from Beauxbatons" lied Harry. In actuality, he had stolen the stack of O-Fuda from Professor Loew's desk on the way to martial arts practice yesterday. "I suck at wand magic, but I need _something_ to keep me alive. People have died in the Triwizard Tournament. And you're really smart, so I thought you might know how to use it."

The combination of flattery and desperation finally swayed Hermione. "Ok. first thing, let's go to the library and see what we can find before we start experimenting." she started walking down the hallway. "Are you certain we can't ask professor Loew some questions?"

"He said that we shouldn't ask him anything. That we should pretend he knew nothing about this."

*Zero*Zero*

An hour later, the two teens were sitting deep in the recesses of the Hogwarts library.

"Atchoo!" Hermione sneezed, barely avoiding the book she was flipping through.

"I don't think anybody has gone in here in ages." remarked Harry as he looked up from his pile of books.

Hermione nodded and turned the book she was reading towards Harry. "Is this O-Fuda in your stack?"

Harry looked at the illustration, and then started flipping through the magical papers that he had stolen.

"Yeah!"

"Ok, then we can start work on this sequence" Hermione pointed to the spell. As best as Harry could tell, it would create a wall of some sort, sort of like transfiguration or something.

Harry looked at the complex series of steps required will a sinking sensation, "That looks pretty complicated." he replied nervously.

"We'll try the first part - that doesn't look to hard, and that will at least give us a general idea of how Onmyodo works." Hermione sighed, "That's the best we're going to be able to do, I think - these are the only books that seem even remotely related to Japanese magic, and this spell the only one that makes even a little bit of sense." she slammed the book shut in frustration, "they all assume that you know how to cast Onmyodo spells."

Harry leaned over and placed a hand a hand on his agitated assistant. "hey, relax. It's my neck on the line, not yours."

Hermione smiled at the weak joke. "it's just that this is the first time that I can make practical use of all my skills. I spend all my life learning and studying. And while that's fun, I like the idea of being able to do something useful with all that knowledge."

"Hey, you said it yourself - you've never studied this before. I'm impressed with how quickly you were able to pull together what you did learn." Harry had been on the receiving end of enough supportive reassurances that he was able to dish them out like a master. Like a school councilor.

Hermione smiled. The two teens sat in companionable silence in the poorly lit stacks. After a bit the cozy setting had its effect.

"You know, this is the first time anybody asked me for help." Hermione volunteered softly, "Usually, people talk to Fleur. They rarely even notice I'm there."

"Then why do you hang out with her?"

Hermione sat quietly for a long time. Harry decided she wouldn't answer and started collecting the books.

"Because its safe there."

"What?" he stopped, confused.

"Harry, did you know that I went to Hogwarts for a couple of months? I was in your year."

Harry shook his head.

"Well, to make a long story short, I didn't have any friends here, and one evening I was in the bathroom when a troll smashed its way in. I spent an hour hiding under the rubble while the monster smashed stuff. Nobody even knew I was missing." Hermione's face darkened, and she looked like she was talking more to herself than to harry, "after that, I transfered to Beauxbatons. With Fleur, There are always people around. I'm not going to get forgotten."

Harry nodded dumbly, '_But you said most people don't notice you next to Fleur'_, but it felt wrong to call her on it, after she had shared something that was obviously very personal.

*Zero*Zero*

"Step"

Harry whirled in place and did a shuto - an open hand strike.

"Step"

Turn, shuto

"Sink down, Harry. Keep the knees bent more"

"Ok" Harry replied through clenched teeth. Standing with his knees bent was *hard*

"Step"

shuto

step

shuto

Harry finished up the exercise and stood up with a sigh, remembering to bow at the end.

"You are doing very well, Harry," Adams smiled, "but your real strength is in your speed and reaction time."

"Should I work out to put on more muscle?" asked Harry. He was really enjoying the martial arts training. After most classes, he felt like he could take on the world.

"No, not unless you want to be a professional fighter. Speed is much more important than strength, especially for the advanced moves." Adam was also wearing a martial arts gi today, "I want to work on kumites today."

Kumites were combinations of blocks and attacks, and Harry always found those a little intimidating: having to block a punch from a seven foot tall professor who looked like he could have built the Egyptian pyramids single handedly was scary. Even if he was a nice guy.

"go"

block strike

strike strike

Harry finished off the sequence of attacks, and Adam nodded with a smile. "Good. Just be careful if you practice with anybody else - you need to pull your punches a bit more when sparring with humans."

Harry nodded, thinking that it would be cool to spar with somebody more his size.

*Zero*Zero*

"Draco, Professor Loew has been teaching me some martial arts. Do mind helping me practice?" Harry asked as he ran up to the Slytherin and his two thugs. They were walking back from class - they had a free period next.

Draco turned to look at harry with scorn, "Wizards don't do fisticuffs."

"But professor Loew..."

"I don't care what that half-breed squib has to say on the topic. Real wizards don't sully themselves that way."

Harry stopped in the corridor.

*Zero*Zero*

"Hey, Neville, Professor Loew has been teaching me some martial arts. do mind helping me practice?" Harry was sitting with the Gryffindors for lunch.

Neville looked up from his sandwich, "I don't know, Harry, Gran would be furious if she found out I was fighting."

"It's not the same as brawling, Nev. it's more like a class, or quidditch." Harry cajoled,

"Hey, I'll do it." Harry looked up in surprise to see Ron Weasley looking at him intensely. Harry barely knew the red head: The only class they shared was Foreign Runes, and they didn't talk much there. "It'll be dead useful when I apply for Auror school."

"Ok." Harry replied skeptically.

"Great. so when do you meet?"

*Zero*Zero*

Harry's next class was DADA, which was always interesting, if sometimes nerve-wracking, with Moody teaching it. Today was no different. The Ravenclaws were all seated when Moody walked into class with an AK-47 assault rifle cradled against his shoulder.

"Today, we will learn about defending against muggle weapons." He stopped in front of the class. Several muggleborn students prepared to dive under their desks if Moody lowered the weapon. "How many of you know what this is" he held up the assault rifle.

Hands went up, including Harry's.

"Yes, Potter?"

"It's an assault rifle. It shoots a lot of bullets very quickly. Muggle soldiers use them."

"Correct. but for fighting against magic, they are almost useless. Draco, please bring up your book bag."

Moody put Draco's bad against the far wall of the class and with a wave of his wand cast an expansion charm. The classroom stretched out, the book bag receding a good 20 feet.

"Ok, now cast a Protego on your bag"

Draco looked questioningly between the bag and his professor, then cast, "Protego". A blue shimmering disk appeared in front of the book bag.

"Good. now hold it steady." Moody reminded the class "it's not easy to maintain a Protego at this distance."

He then lowered his assault rifle and...

BradaBradaBradaBrada

...sprayed the book bag with bullets. Draco flinched and ducked his shoulders, but he managed to maintain the spell. Moody lowered the rifle and Accio'ed the book bag into his hand.

The bag was undamaged.

"Good job, Malfoy." Moody turned back to the class. "Muggle bullets are all identical, and the rifle fires so many of them, with so little effort on the part of the shooter, that there is almost no intent. The violence is casual. And without some will force behind it, even a weak Protego spell like the one Draco cast is sufficient to stop the bullets." he hung the assault rifle down on a coat rack.

The class sat stiffly, watching with intense fascination.

Moody conjured a bundle of straw tied to two sticks next to his desk - it looked like a naked scarecrow. Moody then turned back to Draco again "cast Protego on this."

As Draco complied, aiming his wand at the figure from a distance of less than ten feet. Moody pulled a sword out of the top drawer of his desk, and hobbled over to the wooden block.

He stared intently at the straw dummy. Then, he took a deep breath and with a loud yell he lashed out with the sword. The Protego spell shattered into blue shard as the sword swept through it, loping off the top half of the scarecrow.

"Can anybody tell me what was different?"

"You had a physical connection to the sword. It is a much more personal weapon. That let your intent carry through" Terry quickly volunteered.

"Very good, Mr Boots. 5 points to Ravenclaw, but please raise your hand next time."

"Mr Goldstein, do you want to try blocking?"

Andrew nodded nervously and cast Protego on the remainder of the straw figure. Moody again took a shuffling step forward, and straw flew everywhere as his sword shattered Andrew's shield.

"You forgot to turn your hand as you flicked the wand," rumbled Moody, clearly disappointed by the poor showing, "I think we need to practice our Protego. Who wants to be next?"

The class continued this way, with each student having a chance to cast the Protego spell, and get critiqued by the professor.

"Potter, you're next" Alastor reparo-ed the straw figure again.

Harry took up a position near the target, unconsciously bracing himself as he cast "Protego" he stood with an intent look on his face. As Moody swung his sword, he tensed as if he was the one who was going to get hit

"GONG"

The sword bounced of the shield with a flash of blue sparks.

Moody looked surprised, but pleased ."Very good. So what exactly was going through your head as you cast your spell?"

Harry shrugged self consciously. He wasn't used to praise, "I just imagined that the sword was coming at me rather than the target. I figured that if I had a real shield, I could definitely stop it, so there was no reason that my Protego shouldn't work as well."

Alastor turned back to the rest of the class, "As you can see Potter's shield was much stronger. He connected himself to the target, and he had strong intent."

The bell sounded for the end of class

"I want two feet of parchment on the use of intent in defensive spells. Class dismissed"


	4. Chapter 4

Harry followed behind Parvati as she put up SPEW posters. "Ok, Harry, you can put one on that side" she pointed to one side of the courtyard, as she placed posters against a tree and used her wand to magically affix them.

"Ok"

Several minutes later, the last of the posters were gone. "It's almost dinner time." Harry mentioned casually.

"Hmmm." Parvati replied, as she checked off the locations that she had put up her posters from a master list.

"Do you mind if I sit with you for dinner?" Harry asked meekly.

Parvati looked at him calculatingly for a moment before smiling and replying "Sure!" brightly.

*zero*zero*

Harry kept wondering what to do next. he was sitting with the Gryffindors for dinner, next to Parvati. she was chattering away with Lavender.

"And I have read that Christian Dior will be introducing their winter line late this year - They claim it is because they are going to make a bold new statement, but I heard that their their chief designer was in hiding after his affair with an underage male models came out."

She wasn't trying to exclude him, but she seemed oblivious to the fact that he didn't know anything about the world of fashion. Harry tried to listen and pretend to be interested, but without much success: Lavender's enthusiastic stories about the treatment of 'underage male models' were kind of... eww. And He didn't know any of the Gryffindors well enough to strike up a conversation. So he did like at the Dursleys: he hunched down to weather the storm and ate methodically.

"Hey, have you got all of Hein one down?" Ron dropped into the seat across from him. Hein one was the Kata that Prof Loew was teaching them.

Harry looked up gratefully, "Yeah, though I still need to practice the turns at the end."

"Ok, good. Then you can help me with it after dinner."

Harry nodded gratefully.

"Harry, would you please come with me?" Flitwick had come up behind Harry.

"I guess the practice session is off" shrugged Harry as he got up. _'I'm free!'_

"Mm" Ron replied, taking that to mean he could stuff himself without fear of throwing up during the workout.

*zero*zero*

Flitwick led Harry to a small meeting rome, where the three other Champions were already waiting, along with Bartemius Crouch, Ludo Bagman, Percy Weasley and several strangers. There was a side table piled with small snacks off to one side.

Bartemius Crouch smiled, "Welcome. I scheduled this meeting so that members of the press would have a chance to meet you before the first task. The Headmasters have kindly agreed to a short, informal session. So I am now going to stop talking and let you get to it."

Before Harry had a chance to get his bearings, a perfectly coiffured, hard faced woman dressed in a sharp business robe materialized in front of him, "So Harry, tell me how it feels to be the youngest Triwizard contestant in history?" she smiled in an artificial way as a quick quotes quill hovered over a parchment at her side.

Harry froze. He never liked talking to strangers, and this woman reminded him of Vernon. "Uhm, ok, I guess"

"Do you find you are treated differently by your classmates? Are they jealous of your status?"

"I don't think so" Harry thought the woman was barking mad, but there was no way to escape her inane questions. _'How do I know what's going on in their heads?__ It's not like I'm friends with them. __And why would I tell *you*?'_

"With the first task approaching fast, do you feel that you are ready, or do you feel that Dumbledore thrust you into a situation that you are not prepared for, in order to generate some publicity?"

Harry's mind froze - the first task was just over a week away. He had been avoiding thinking about it, but this woman had made it was unavoidable.

"Uhm. Yeah," Harry mumbled, his heart hammering, as he broke out in a cold sweat. He stood still as a statue

After several more non-answers, the woman reporter got tired of his reticence, and swooped down on easier prey.

As Harry took the opportunity to flee, he saw her jostle aside a larger man to place herself directly in front of Victor Krum.

*zero*zero*

Harry fled outside, hoping to calm down by taking a walk. He was planning to go around the lake, but when he got there, he realized that it was too dangerous to do so at night: without any illumination it was too easy to trip on one of the little gullies and fall into the lake, to be eaten by the giant squid. Or something. Harry had never been good at swimming.

Harry sighed in frustration. He didn't want to go back to the castle. He needed to be away from people, to have space to move. He thought about doing some katas, but decided that if anybody saw him, he would look like a dork.

As his mind was locked in an agitated loop, his feet took him down the fields, towards the forbidden forest. As he got to the edge of it, he turned to walk parallel, keeping a healthy distance from the trees - there was no telling what could be hiding in there.

Harry wasn't certain how long he had been walking, but the autumn chill was starting to make him uncomfortable. He considered turning back, but he felt the need to accomplish _something_ no matter how useless, so he decided to complete the circuit of Hogwarts' grounds.

*zero*zero*

He was back behind the quidditch pitch when he made his discovery. It was in an area that was hidden from view by the stands, and usually there was nothing there, except sometimes delinquent students smoking stolen cigarettes (Harry remembered the one time he had tried one - he had almost coughed up a lung. Draco thought it was hilarious, though he himself refused to try one, on the grounds that it was below him. Somehow, that didn't bother Crabbe or Goyle, both of whom smoked on the very rare occasions that they could get their hands on some cigies).

But now, there was a tent and gear strewn about, and several corrals.

Harry crept closer.

He must have stepped through a silencing charm, because all of a sudden, he heard snuffling and hooting from the corral in front of him, interrupted by a bellow from off to his right. Harry froze. could it be... He stared into the darkness - it was a clear night, but there was no moon. All of a sudden, a huge form lethargically shambled towards him.

A dragon.

A shot of adrenaline coursed through him. The first task would involve dragons.

Somehow, knowing what would kill him made Harry less anxious. He relaxed and looked at the monster, standing stock still. It really was quite attractive. The scales were rigid, and moved sinuously against each other as the dragon walked. The dragon slowly ambled along the fence and snuffled.

The dragon then reached over the fence and gently tried to bite his head off.

"Eep" Harry dropped backwards and scampered away on all fours before regaining his footing. He glanced behind him, but the dragon was somehow constrained in the corral.

But there must be a dragon keeper somewhere around, and there is no way that Harry was supposed to be back here. He glanced around, his heart hammering, and he took off at a run, back the way he came.

*zero*zero*

"I knew that" Draco replied airily.

"Then why didn't you tell me about the dragons?" Harry replied heatedly, "or do the odds favor me dying in the first task?"

"I just found out myself last night - I overheard Karkaroff telling Krum about it on my way back from dinner" Draco replied defensively.

Harry looked at him disbelievingly. The two boys were talking in the corridor. Harry's panic was giving way to anger at his friend's lack of concern.

Harry glared at Draco, and the blond boy glanced around uncomfortably, for once at a loss of words.

"Draco, I think you were on your way to the bathroom." Luna drifted in between the boys and snagged Harry's sleeve. "come along, Harry we don't want to be late for our remedial class." Draco stood for a moment, conflicted as to whether he wanted to argue with the crazy girl, or just avoid her. Avoidance won out, just in case her 'school pariah' status rubbed off.

Harry glanced at the odd girl, "It's not a remedial class. It's tutoring."

"I like being in the same class as you. It would have been better if you were in my year."

The two teens walked towards Flitwick's classroom "Uhm, I like being where I am." Harry gently tried to pull his sleeve free

"Oh, me too" Replied Luna dreamily, holding tight to Harry's sleeve.

"Umm, Luna? Do you know anything about dragons?"

"A bit. Sweden is very cold during Christmas."

"What? What does that have to do with Dragons?"

"Daddy likes to spend christmas in Sweden - All the stars twinkling through the trees is very... special. But it is so cold. The only place that's nice and warm is the dragon preserve. You see, it's rutting season for the Norwegian Ridgeback, and the males display for the females by breathing fire everywhere. Daddy and I volunteer to help put the fires out. It's really very toasty. And once night falls, the Dragons go to sleep, and we can watch the stars. You should come with me, this year." Luna replied.

Harry stopped in the hallway, "Do you know of any way to kill a dragon?"

"I am not certain if I am supposed to be helping you with the Triwizard task," she replied with an odd smile.

"How do you know I was referring to that?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"Because, unlike some, I know how to use my ears." At Harry's puzzled look, "Draco? Remember your conversation with your constipated friend?"

"Oh, yeah," Harry looked relieved.

"And besides, I doubt you will have to kill a dragon - Dragons are a protected species under the Pwyll International Game treaty of 1885" She turned and walked into Flitwick's classroom.

Harry wasn't certain, but he thought Luna might be annoyed about something. He never could tell what was going on in the odd girls mind, despite being a good judge of other people's moods (a survival skill in the Dursleys household)

*zero*zero*

Harry concentrated as he held the O-Fuda paper in his hand. then, with a flourish he threw it into the air an pronounced a word in japanese (or so he hoped).

The sheet of paper fluttered through the air, leaving a trail of identical paper turning in the breeze. Soon, the air was full of papers, hovering in a vaguely wall like shape.

But nothing further happened.

"Argg!" Harry Potter yelled in frustration.

"Venti" he cast a weak banisher at the lot, but instead of scattering the papers like confetti, the whole lot of them just flew to the other side of the classroom spinning even faster. Little pieces of paper were scattered all over. '_This is going to be a mess to clean up'. _Harry didn't want to leave any evidence of his misdeeds.

"Harry, that was good progress" Hermione reassured her friend. She was holding a sheaf of notes, and she took a moment to add to them, writing down the results of this last attempt before continuing. "I wish we could get an audio clip of how the japanese is supposed to sound - I think you just need to perfect the pronunciation a little-mmm!"

A piece of swirling o-Fuda paper smacked into her head, wrapping around her face. As she struggled to get the animated paper off, Harry cast Finite Incantatem.

"Hermione, I don't have the time. The First Task is in less than a week. This spell was supposed to create a wall, to keep the dragon away from me."

"Ok, well let's see what I found about dragons instead", replied Hermione with a sigh, switching topics. She pulled out a large tome and placed it on the desk in front of her. She opened it to a bookmarked page and leaned in to read the small, crabbed writing.

Harry pulled up a chair and sat down next to the Beauxbatons girl, peering over her shoulder at the book in front of her.

"So, uhm, according to this, uhm." Hermione started, flustered, "Harry, give me some space, I can't see the book."

"Oh, sorry" he sat back.

"According to 'Mugethorps Bestiary, XXIV edition' dragon hide is very resistant to spells, but their eyes are not. The traditional method of hunting a dragon involves blinding the dragon with a spell to the eyes, followed by stabbing it with a magic sword."

"I don't think there _are_ any magic swords, outside of museums. Besides, I don't know if I am supposed to kill the dragon."

"Harry," sighed Hermione in exasperation, "you could cast a conjunctivitis spell on the dragons eyes, to blind it."

"Oh, that could work" Harry scratched his head sheepishly. "Does your book mention anything else?"

"It says that not all dragons breath fire, but for those that do, the fire is extremely hot, and can't be countered by flame extinguishing charms,. There is also a footnote saying that there are unsubstantiated rumors that Johan Slytherin (I guess he was a decedent of Salthazar) authored several spells in Parseltongue that were more effective on dragons. But given that Parseltongue can't be learned - it's an innate ability some wizards have, that's not much use to you."

"Well, ok" Harry gathered up his book bag and was about to rush off to his next class - Potions - when the thin little sliver of social graces that Harry had somehow accidentally acquired tickled the back of his mind. He turned around, "Umm, thanks for all your hard work, I really appreciate it" he half stuttered, before heading out the door.

*zero*zero*

"Potter! Are you asleep?" Snape snapped from behind Harry's left shoulder. It was Potions, Friday before the first task, and understandably enough, Harry was a little distracted.

Harry jumped. Why did that man always have to talk to him from behind? It put him in mind of a snake attacking its prey.

"Uh, no professor, I just zoned out a little."

"So I can expect a ruined potion from you again?"

"No, it's all done. The instructions just said to leave it over the hot embers after you extinguish the flames."

"If you had been paying attention earlier, Potter, you would have heard my explanation that we will not being doing that."

"Why not?" Harry asked before he could stop himself. He tried to avoid drawing attention to himself in Potions, so as to avoid being chewed out by Snape (any conversation with the sour professor involved a liberal dose of criticism, which Harry heartily disliked).

"Because this recipe is for a commercial Boundless Energy potion, and the long slow cooling off extends the shelf life of the potion. Seeing as I will be checking your potions this evening, I saw no reason to waste three hours watching your cauldrons cool."

"Oh, that makes sense" Harry replied, pushing his luck.

"Potter, everything I say makes sense. The fault is not with my words, but with your brain," Snape snapped.

Oddly, for once Harry wasn't intimidated. He wasn't certain if it was his certainty of impending death in the First Task, or if Snape was going easy on him, or what, but Harry kept his wits about him, and as the professor walked off, he poured off about half the potion into a spare flask and dropped it into his book bag before filling his exam vial to hand in to Snape.

*zero*zero*

It was the day of the first task. Harry picked at his breakfast. The eggs looked too runny, and the bacon too greasy. The toast was as dry as ashes, but he made managed to gag at least that down. He figured he would need energy for the Task.

"Hey, cheer up, by this afternoon it will be all over." Draco and his two goons dropped down opposite Harry, startling him.

"Yeah."

"Come on, you should head down to the quidditch pitch." Draco added cheerfully. He was obviously excited about watching the upcoming task. "You don't want to be disqualified for not showing up, do you"

"What, you got money riding on me again."

"Always, dude." Draco smiled, trying to make a joke out of it.

Harry pushed back his chair and stormed off.

*zero*zero*

"I'll walk with you" came a voice from behind him as Harry walked out of the great Hall. He turned in surprise to see Goyle running to catch up with him..

Harry's anger warred with not wanting to face the task all by himself "Ok".

Harry made his way down to the contestant's tent that had been erected at the edge of the quidditch pitch, with Goyle quietly lumbering at his side. It was a surprisingly warm day for this late in the year, with the sun shinning cheerfully as Harry walked to his doom.

The stands around the pitch were already full of students, parents, and random wizards from across Europe. Harry wondered if they had been magically expanded.

The noise was a physical thing. A constant push of hundreds of conversations, of yelling, cheering and annoying toy noisemakers.

"Good luck" Goyle pronounced as they reached the contestants tent. "Sorry Draco was being a dick. It happens sometimes." He added with a shrug.

Harry nodded and stepped inside. The tent had been magically expanded into a comfortable waiting room, with a water cooler, several comfortable armchairs and even a bathroom.

Krum and Cedric were already inside the tent. Cedric was pacing anxiously, while Krum was leaning back in a chair, looking at ease.

"Ah, Harry, welcome, welcome," Ludo Bagman waved him in. "take a seat. We will be starting as soon as... ah, there you are Fleur. I was just telling Harry that we are ready to start" Crouch smiled as Fleur impassively marched in and sat down primly on the edge of a chair. In addition to the four champions and Ludo, there was Percy Weasley - a recent graduate of Hogwarts, and now apparently an assistant to Bartemius Crouch.

"Ok, here is how this task will work. Each of you will have to retrieve a golden orb and cross to the far side of the pitch. The tricky part is that the golden orb is being guarded by a dragon that believes that the orb is its egg. Now traditionally, you would each face a different breed of dragon, provided by a different wizarding nation, but we decided to standardize on the Hungarian Horntail, to make the contest more even, and since we had a good stock of them at the Magyar Dragon Preserve." Ludo winked at the last statement.

"Don't worry, you will each have your own dragon."

That did nothing to reassure Harry.

Ludo picked up a pouch and held it out to the teens, "please reach into this and pull out a stone. They are numbered to determine what order you will compete in."

Harry's stomach was in knots as he pulled out a flat piece of stone. "4"

"Very well. You know your order. I need to go up to the judges stands. Mr Weasley will stay with you, in case you need anything at the last minute." The the stiff young man nodded, still without any expression.

Ludo walked out quickly.

"You ready, Harry?" Cedric asked. forcing himself to sit down.

"I hope so. Dragons are pretty tough customers."

"I Know. I can't believe they're willing to use such a dangerous creature."

With a start, Harry realized that Cedric had not known that the first task would involve dragons. He glanced at the other two champions. They didn't seem to be surprised (though with Krum, it was hard to tell - he fairly unflappable).

Harry felt vaguely guilty for not informing Cedric. He was a good guy, and Harry had learned a lot in his tutoring sessions.

There was a cheer from outside.

"I guess they're starting. Good luck, Ced."

Cedric nodded and got up. and exited the tent.

There followed more cheers.

Then quiet.

Then cheering, then a horrible sound like a collective gasp.

The three remaining champions shared a look of dread.

The moments ticked away. Then slowly, there was more cheering, starting quiet and then growing louder.

The waiting was interminable. Harry's bowls were knotting themselves up.

Percy glanced down at a parchment on his lap, "you're next, Mr Krum."

He exited, to explosive cheers. This time the cheering was in unison, and Harry could make out that the spectators were chanting "Krum, Krum, Krum."

The cheering never faded away, and in a very short time crescendoed.

"Ms. Fleur" the Gatekeeper (as Harry was starting to think of Percy) nodded at Fleur, who exited.

Cheering

Quiet

A gasp, followed by quick cheering

Harry took a moment to go to the bathroom. Inside, he pulled out the boundless energy potion that he had nicked from class. He wasn't certain what the correct dose was, but figuring 'better too much than too little' he swigged down as much as he could before hiding the flask in his robes again and finishing up other business.

When he back out, there was loud cheer from outside. Harry steeled himself.

"Mr Potter." the gate demon (erh... man) pronounced with a nod, as he expelled him into the outside.

Harry took a deep breath and stepped out of the tent.

Please review - it helps motivate me to write more (and to fine tune what I write)


	5. Chapter 5

This is the last of the 'old' chapters that I had fully written 3 years ago. The one after that is half and half, and then we are off into the wild blue yonder. So expect the chapters after this one to have a slightly different writing style.

START story

Harry stepped out of the tent, facing the quidditch pitch.

"And our final contestant is Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived!" boomed the announcer.

Cheering

"Harry was an unexpected addition to this years Triwizard tournament. He is also the youngest contestant. But as the defeater of You-Know-Who, he doubtless has extraordinary magic."

"extraordinary my ass," muttered Harry. Now that he was actually 'doing', instead of waiting, the fear had melted away (or maybe he was high from overdosing on the Boundless Energy potion).

Harry examined the pitch. In the middle, atop stone platform was the golden egg.

On top of that, was the dragon.

The dragon hissed as it caught sight of Harry.

Harry smiled, "I'm insane."

He pulled out the stolen sheet of o-Fuda and started running towards the dragon.

"And Harry takes a running start. He's heading straight for the dragon. What strategy will he use. One hopes that such a young champion isn't going to try something foolish. Harry was raised in a muggle family, so he may not realize the danger of dragons."

The cheering was dying down, as the spectators watched anxiously.

Harry watched the dragon as he ran in. When he saw it's head go back, the way Hermione said indicated that it was going to breath fire, he threw up his o-Fuda and pronounced the spell, at the same time diving forwards out of the way.

"Harry is got something - I don't recognize the spell, but it has created a small blizzard of what looks like paper. Is he trying to confuse the dragon I don't..."

"IT'S BREATHING"

The dragon's flame barely missed Harry as he dived forwards _'shit, it didn't work'._

Harry glanced up at the o-Fuda spell - the papers hadn't formed the wall, instead they had been incinerated, and now a storm of ashes were swirling through the air.

The dragon charged the prone Champion.

"The dragon sees Harry is down, and is coming in to finish off the Champion. Mediwizards are standing by, in case... No, he's up!"

Loud cheering.

Harry jerked up "Venti!" and cast a breeze at the dragon, right through the cloud of flying ash. The whole cloud of ash flew right into the dragons path.

At the same time, Harry pushed off the ground and started running again. As the dragon breathed in to flame the small morsel, it sucked in a lung full of ash.

The dragon let out a loud hack, like a cat with a hair-ball.

"Harry has disabled the dragon - with some sort of conjured powder. While a dragon's hide is almost impervious, their insides are not."

"Whoah!"

The dragon, still incapacitated, but seeing Harry about to run past it towards its precious egg, swung its tail at Harry.

Harry didn't even slow down as he flung himself into a forward roll right over the tail. He landed on his feet and after a momentary stagger, ran the final few feet to grab the golden egg.

"Harry has the egg, but the dragon is in hot pursuit. He still has to reach edge of the pitch."

He kept running.

"Wing-"

step

"-ardium"

"The dragon is gaining, and it looks like it will try to lash him with its tail again."

step

"Levi-"

step

"-osa"

As he cast the spell on himself, he pushed off with both feet, going into an impressive leap towards the far side of the pitch.

But at the same time, the dragon's tail caught him in the back, spinning him through the air towards the stands.

Harry concentrated on not letting go of the egg, no matter what, he pulled his legs in around it.

THUMP

There was a moment of quiet.

"Harry has hit the stands. He is officially off the pitch. The Mediwizards are running to his side. We will have word from them in a few moments. But until then, I must admit that Mr. Potter's go was one of the most dramatic exhibitions that I have ever seen. I am speechless. That a fourteen year old boy could move so quickly, and perform so well under pressure is extremely impressive. And we have word from the judges - Harry has managed to match Krum's time. Now let us see if he survived to.. yes!"

"I have word from the Mediwizards that he is alive. He apparently suffered some broken bones and a few internal injuries, but nothing serious."

*Zero*Zero*

Harry swam back to consciousness. He hurt, but not as bad as when Vernon got really angry.

He turned his head. He was in Hogwarts - he could see the lake out the window. It looked like a miserably cold day. His memory of the First Task came back to him

Ow.

He figured he must be under a pain potion, because he should hurt a lot more than this.

"I am sorry, Ms Skeeter, but I can not allow you to interview Harry at this time. Once he has recovered, I will contact your office"

Harry looked up to see Dumbledore close the door on the annoying woman who had interviewed him a few weeks ago.

"How are you feeling, Harry?"

"I've been better, sir."

Madam Pomfrey chose that moment to come in as well."It is good to see you awake, Mr. Potter," she smiled at him,"The good news is that you should make a complete recovery in a few days. I have mended your broken bones, and your internal injuries are healing nicely. Did you by any chance imbibe any potions before the task?"

"Yeah, I drank a Boundless Energy potion."

"Hmm, well, you seem to have taken too much - it burnt a hole in your stomach lining. That will take a little longer to heal, so your going to be on bread and water for a few weeks."

Harry wasn't certain if that was from the overdose, or if his potion had just not been medicinal quality. But all things considered, he felt he had gotten off pretty light. He had faced off against a dragon (a DRAGON!) and lived!

"In the mean time, a few of your friends want to visit with you. I will tell them that you are ready for visitors," Dumbledore turned to go. "Incidentally, Harry, very impressive spell work. Casting on the run is not an easy thing."

Harry felt like he was nine feet tall.

As soon as he exited, Hermione came in. Madam Pomfrey smiled knowingly "I will give you two some privacy to talk. But only a few minutes, Ms Granger. Our Mr. Potter needs to rest."

*Zero*Zero*

"So did you plan any of that out, with the Onmyodo?" Were the first words out of her mouth.

"Uhm, no" Harry admitted sheepishly.

"Then why did you try that spell, again?" she asked.

"I was hoping that it work, this time."

Hermione boggled, "You're insane, you know that? You could have gotten killed! Next time, There is no way I am going to let you come up with a plan on your own!"

If Harry hadn't been able to hear the honest concern in her voice, her tone would have annoyed him. "Ok, it's a deal. So what did the other champions do?"

"Well, Krum flew like a demon" Ron Weasley replied as he almost bounded into the room. "It was amazing - he's the seeker for the Bulgarian National teem you know, but it was nothing compared to what you did - you matched his time! On foot! And he was on broom!" Ron took a breath, "So when are you going to be ready for sparring?"

"Mr Weasley, Harry is injured, and is not going to be ready for any strenuous exercise for some time," Hermione interjected.

"Oh, are you one of the Beauxbatons girls?" Ron asked, noticing that there was somebody else in the room for the first time.

"Yes, I am" Hermione replied acidly.

"What about Fleur and Cedric?" Harry interrupted, before the angry looks could progress to anything further.

"Oh, poor Cedric got pretty badly burnt - he cast conjunctivitis at the dragons eyes, and then transformed into a dog. I guess he was hoping that the dragon wouldn't be able to see something that small and fast. It almost worked, but the dragon started spraying flame all over once he grabbed the egg, and his back and legs got badly scorched. He's down the hall in a private room. Madame Pomfrey is debating transporting him to St. Mungo's" Hermione explained.

"Good thing he doesn't really have a tail, or that would have been burnt off" Ron added, "Fleur went in the other direction - she shot off sparklers and multi colored lights that whizzed around the dragons head, confusing it. Her dragon did graze her with a flame, but she had treated her robes with something so that they repelled the fire."

"Of course she did" Draco sauntered in, along with his usual escort, followed by a scowling Neville, "I told you the other Champions knew about the dragons ahead of time. That was why Fleur knew to coat her robes with dragon blood."

"And how do you know that is what she did?" interrupted Neville.

Draco snorted derisively, "What else would she have used? That, combined with a flame freezing charm to enhance the effect. That's what any wizard with half a brain would have done."

Ron grimaced and added, "I'm sorry, Nev, but I think he's right. Charlie works with dragons, and that's how he makes his 'work wear'" Ron glowered at the prissy Slytherin for daring to be correct.

"Well, according to the _Proceeding of the Herbalogical Society of Australia_, cloth woven from Dragonbane can withstand almost any attack from a dragon without damage, and without the draw backs of using Dragon blood. Such as the fact that Dragon blood stains the treated clothing. Which hers weren't." Neville jutted out his jaw and stubbornly at Draco.

"Uhm... What?" Ron had obviously lost track of the explanation.

"Ignore him. He just doesn't like being wrong" Draco replied dismissively.

Before Neville or Ron could do anything, a rumbling voice interrupted the argument. "This not the place for arguments. This is a place of healing" professor Loew had quietly entered the room, "Please continue this discussion outside. preferably withOUT violence" he came up to the teens, towering menacingly over them.

The boys filed out of the room meekly. "You, too Ms. Granger, I would like a private word with Harry."

Hermione had faded into the background as the discussion had become more spirited. She nodded and followed the other out the door.

When the door shut, Adam turned back to Harry, and Harry's stomach knotted up again. He felt very small.

"Mr. Potter, I am very disappointed in you."

"Why, what did I do?" he squeaked.

"I think you know" Adam waited for an answer.

"I, ah, took the O-Fuda without asking?" He asked tentatively.

"You stole my property, Mr. Potter."

Harry again realized just how BIG Professor Loew was.

"I'm sorry. I was just... I needed something to help me stay alive."

"If you had ASKED, I would have been happy to loan you whatever you needed."

"I thought that, you, since you work for an opposing school, that you wouldn't be able to."

"Harry, my job is to protect and to teach." his tone softened, "It doesn't matter who. I would have found a way around any rule that endangers a student, whether he is from Beauxbatons or Hogwarts or Durmstrang."

"Ok, professor, I'll remember that" Harry was amazed that he had gotten off so lightly. If Vernon had ever caught him stealing...

"Very good. And to help your memory, you will be serving detention with me next thursday evening."

Adam turned to leave, but then paused, "Before I forget, I brought up your egg" He placed the golden egg that had been the MacGuffin in the first task onto the night stand by Harry's head.

"It's the clue to the next Task."

*Zero*Zero*

Harry sat staring intently at his plate as he methodically chewed his breakfast the following morning. He was free from the infirmary, and back at the Ravenclaw table. It was early, and the table was sparsely populated.

"Hello, Harry. Are you eating an omelet?" Luna sat down next to him, on his left.

"Um... " Harry stared down at his toast, "I don't think so?" he asked. Luna had a remarkable ability to scramble his brains.

"Then why do you have a giant egg next to your plate?" she pointed to the golden egg sitting to the right of his plate.

"Oh, this - It's the clue for the next task. I was planning to try to solve it after breakfast`"

"That is an admirable goal. Have you tried to open it yet? There appears to be a latch."

"Uhm, no, I thought it would be a good idea to make sure its safe first."

"So you were planning to open it an unused classroom, somewhere far away, where if you were injured, nobody would find you until you bled to death?" Luna asked, appearing honestly puzzled, "Wouldn't it make more sense to open it somewhere where aid is readily available?" she nodded towards the professors table, where Snape was blearily stabbing his bacon strip like it was a dragon.

"I guess..."

So without another word Luna reached past Harry with her left hand to flip open the egg. This placed her face in remarkably close proximity to Harry's, who started backwards.

And he completely fell out of his chair when the egg began to shriek.

Harry quickly jumped up and slammed it shut. Everybody in the great hall was now fully awake and looking at him. Even Snape looked like he had been goosed with a cattle prod.

Before Harry could grab the egg and slink off, Luna flipped the lid open again.

Harry closed it and hugged the egg to his chest "Stop doing that!" he glanced around at the growing number of annoyed glares he was receiving.

"We need to collect information so we can figure out the clue. It sounds like some sort of language" Luna reached for the latch.

Harry jerked it away, "I think it's safe to open it an unused classroom, somewhere far away, don't you think?"

Luna's fingers reached out again, but she stopped, "I guess you are correct."

"Harry, what on earth is that racket?" Hermione had stormed over to the Ravenclaw table and was standing with her hands on her hips

"It's the clue for the next task." Harry replied meekly. He cringed like he expected to be hit at any moment. Several other annoyed students were clustered around as well. Snape had made his way down from the professors table and looked about ready to take house points away, but paused to let the drama in front of him play out.

"And who's brilliant idea was it to open it here, in a public area," Asked Hermione.

Harry pointed quickly at Luna.

"Given our lack of information, it seemed safest to open the egg in public. After all, Diz-bats never attack when people are watching" Luna shrugged in a distracted fashion.

"Of all the inconsiderate..." This was from Ernie Macmillan.

"Are you stupid, listening to Looney?" another voice added.

"Enough" Snape snapped with an amused sneer. "I think Mr. Potter has learned to be more considerate. Five point from Ravenclaw for lack of forethought. The rest of you, go finish your food."

Once the other students dispersed, Hermione said somewhat imperiously, "let's go outside and see what we can figure out."

"Uhm," Harry looked somewhat uncertain.

"I think you will be better able to get Harry to do your bidding if you grab his ear and pull." Luna advised.

"I'm coming, I'm coming" Harry grabbed his toast and turned to head for the door.

*Zero*Zero*

"My ears hurt"

"It wasn't so bad once we used the sound muffling charm" Hermione reassured Harry. "And I think Luna is correct - it's a language. We just have to go to the library and find which species speak in such high pitched fashion. There can't be too many."

"Yeah, because they will have been hunted to extinction by humans with bleeding ear drums."

Hermione glanced at Harry. The pair were walking back to the castle for class (Luna had declared with a scowl that she needed to investigate the mating rituals of the Frizzy Nudnik, and had wandered off early in their investigations).

"Harry, I am sorry for barging in like that. I just wanted to help." she looked down at her feet, "I really liked what you said about how I was a lot of help earlier." She looked back at harry, "I am sorry if I got a little carried away."

Harry smiled tentatively, "No, It's ok. I have no clue on this one, and I can always use your help."

Hermione reached out and gave his hand a quick squeeze.

*Zero*Zero*

Harry walked into Flitwick's classroom in something of a daze,

"Class, before we start, I would like to announce that we will be holding a Yule ball this year as a way to get the students from all three schools to to get to know each other better. All students fourth year and up are welcome. The Champions will open the dancing."

The small professor smiled as the students broke out into excited whispers, "I hope you brought your dress-robes."

Harry scowled in annoyance. He had done his best to avoid school dances.

Simon leaned over with a malicious smile, "So who are you going to ask?"

"Huh?"

"You're a Champion. Flitwick said that you have to open the dancing"

"So?"

"So? It's a *ball*. That means the dancing is going to be slow dancing - you need a date, doofus" Simon sat back, smirking, as Harry's face froze in panic.

*Zero*Zero*

After class, Harry was in a daze. Ask out a girl? How on earth did one go about doing that? Other students seemed to have no trouble with it, but Harry was certain that it was beyond his abilities.

Harry was supposed to meet up with Draco and his cronies to study, but he couldn't, not in the face of almost certain ridicule. Instead, he went down to what he now thought of as 'the dojo' - the room where he practiced martial arts under Professor Loew's tutelage.

Though, he still wasn't certain *which* Martial Art it was that he was learning. That made it hard to brag about knowing it. Not that he would have bragged. At least not until he was a lot better.

Harry started out with simple exercises, but he couldn't focus on the katas, so he went to working with the punching bags. He started with single strikes, but the bag didn't even budge when he hit it.

So he decided to try out the combinations that he had seen Professor Loew do.

"Hey, that's pretty cool"

Harry turned, startled. He hadn't noticed Ron come in.

"Uh, just working out a little."

"Yeah, but you're *fast*. Show me some of those combinations"

"Oh, ok, I'll try - Prof. Loew didn't really finish teaching them to me. But he had me start with these Kumites"

Harry spent the next half hour showing Ron the drills that he had learned.

"So, you know who you want to take to the ball?" Ron asked as he got a drink of water.

"Yeah, maybe. I think."

Ron snorted. "Yeah, me too. But I'm not so good with girls. Any advice on how to ask a girl out?"

Harry goggled, "Uh, I have no clue."

"Oh, well, maybe I'll skip it" Ron sighed, he glanced at Harry "but you're screwed."

"Don't I know it."

*Zero*Zero*

Lunchtime was a zoo - everybody was talking about the Yule ball. Harry ate like a man awaiting the executioner's ax.

"So, Harry, are you going with anybody?" a feminine voice asked from behind him.

Harry spun around: it was Parvati

"Um, no, I mean.." He trailed of, deciding to swallow his mouthful before choking to death, or worse yet, making a fool of himself.

"Would you like to be my date?* She asked.

"YES" Harry jumped up, "that would be great!"

"Good, I'll see you, then" Parvati sauntered back to the Gryffindor table.

*Zero*Zero*

Detention with Professor Loew was not as bad as Harry had feared. It was a of of clerical work, using copying charms to make extra worksheets for class. That and scourgify-ing some of the desks (Filch kept trying to get bubble-gum added to the list of forbidden items, but Dumbledore kept refusing)

"Thank you Harry. That was a big help" Adam rumbled at the close of the hour.

"It's not that big a deal - scourgify is a pretty easy spell" replied Harry, thinking that blasting the desks with it was actually kind of fun. At least if you fantasized it was something more powerful.

"It is, but only if you can cast it."

Harry's eyes got big "You're a squib?" he asked, before realizing that it was a tactless question.

"No, Harry, but I come from a different Magical tradition"

"Oh, ok " Harry let the topic drop in embarrassment, escaping into his chores as he concentrated on cleaning the next desk to perfection.

*Zero*Zero*

Harry made his way to the library - he found he was spending a lot of time there, what with his classes and trying to find a squeaky voiced species.

But this time, he was pleasantly surprised to find Cedric sitting at one of the tables, a big pile of books next to him.

"Hey, you ok? I heard you had a rough time with your dragon." Harry sat down next to Cedric.

"Yeah, I got pretty badly scorched, but I had taken a regenerative potion before I started, so I wasn't as bad off as I could have been. Though it sucks being bald" The older teen had a bandana wrapped around his head, and his skin looked patchy, with some very pink spots that were obviously tender. "I hear you did an amazing job."

"Thanks", Harry smiled, "So, any progress with the Egg?"

Cedric looked mildly scandalized, "We're not supposed to work together on the tournament."

"Who says? We're both representing Hogwarts, so why shouldn't we." Harry neglected to mention that he was pretty certain that the other two champions were cheating, so it only made sense for them to do so too. But he didn't think that that line of reasoning would convince Cedric.

"I don't know about that." Cedric pause, "but, no, no progress."

"Yeah, all that happens is when I open it screeches at me."

*Zero*Zero*

It wasn't until the weekend that Harry had time to hang out with Draco and the others. Or so he told himself.

"Hey, dude. Where you been? We haven't seen you in forever" Goyle had turned a chair around and was sprawled over the back.

"Oh, 'ickle Harry has been hiding from all the girls that want to go to the Yule Ball with the Hogwarts Champion." Draco replied - he was lounging on a sofa that he must have conjured.

"But then wouldn't they be after Cedric?" crowed Crabbe.

"Cedric's got a girlfriend, so beggars can't be choosers" chortled Draco.

"Very funny, guys. Ha. Ha" Harry dropped into an empty chair. "as a matter of fact, I already have a date."

"Wow, I'm impressed. Is she a first year?" Draco asked.

Goyle threw a piece of chalk at his erstwhile leader.

"Hey, what's that for?" Draco asked, incensed.

"Who are you going with?" asked Goyle.

"Pansy Parkinson" Draco replied airily.

"Whoa, nice catch" Goyle replied.

"Yeah, you certain you know what to do with a girl like that?" Crabbe asked.

Now it was Draco's turn to chuck the chalk, "yeah, I do. I bet I get to at least second base before the night's out."

Harry turned to Crabbe, "Who are you going with?"

"I'm probably going to go stag. "

Goyle pulled out his carving and started to work on it assiduously not looking up.

"So, you going with anybody?" Draco asked him.

"I don't know" Goyle kept working, not looking up.

"Oh, man, Goyle's got a crush!" Draco chortled, "So, who is it?"

"Nobody."

"I bet It's Bulstrode!"

"Did you know that Professor Loew can't use a wand?" Harry interrupted, coming to Goyle's rescue.

"I figured he was a squib." Draco nodded sagely, "What with that grotesque body. He makes Crabbe look like prince charming."

"He's not a squib - he says he just uses a different sort of magic."

Draco snorted, "I bet. He's just an an insecure freak."

"Hey, Harry's taking that wrestling class with him. Maybe Loew is his date to the Yule Ball." Crabbe snickered.

"Ha, Ha." Harry replied, "As a matter of fact, I'm going with Parvati"

Draco gave a low whistle. "Man, that Triwizard Champion thing is really working for you."

"She's isn't even in the same House as you" Goyle added.

"So? Who says you have to date in your own house?" Harry responded.

"I ain't saying that," replied Goyle, "It's just, you know, really hard even get to talk to a girl from a different house."

"Well, there is SPEW..." Harry started.

Draco almost exploded, "Yeah, Goyle, that's the sort of girl for you - she likes spew!"

"Yeah, spew, I bet that's how she stays so thin." added Crabbe.

Harry stood up, "Geeze, I can't have a normal conversation with you guys anymore" and walked out.

*Zero*Zero*

"Hey, Parvati.." Parvati held up a hand by way of acknowledgment.

Harry was eating breakfast with the Gryffindorks. Well, specifically, he was eating with Parvati, but she was surrounded by her clique, so it was hard to really talk to her.

Harry took a bite of his toast and tried again. "Parvati…"

"Harry, I'm no expert on this," Neville said from Harry's other side, "But I don't think you and Parvati are really clicking."

"And how would you know?" demanded Harry mulishly.

"Because.." began Neville slowly, feeling around for the correct words.

"Harry, will you come to SPEW today?" Parvati swung back towards Harry taking his arm and looking at him earnestly, "I have an important announcement to make, and I could use your support."

"Uh, yeah!" Harry's face lit up.

Neville face-palmed.

*Zero*Zero*

"This meeting of the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare will come to order" Parvati pronounced officially (or was it officiously?)

"So what's the plan?" asked Collin.

"I have learned shocking news!" Parvati pronounced, "There are indeed House elves at Hogwarts!"

There were gasps of horror. "So Luna wasn't just making stuff up?" Sally Ann demanded, leaning in aggressively.

"We have to do something!" Hanna agreed.

Harry surreptitiously glanced at the other club members _'are they serious?'_ Harry was a pretty good judge of these things and yes, they did appear honestly upset. Harry shrugged mentally, _'well, it's not like I have a lot of experience with normal people. Just because the Dursleys wouldn't react this way doesn't mean anything.'_

"The elves are being held captives in the kitchens, and forced to make our food!" Parvati pronounced with much emotion, "and even the door to the kitchens is hidden, so that nobody even know that they are there!"

"I'm not going to eat anything from the kitchens anymore!" Sally Ann leaped to her feet.

Harry raised an eyebrow _'and where is she going to get her food instead?' _But he resisted the urge to say anything: given how dangerously skinny Sally-Ann was in the first place, maybe she was used to going without food. Harry frowned _'She wasn't that skinny last year, was she?' _Harry usually didn't actually _look_ at people - it was too confrontational, but this had raised his curiosity, and so he surreptitiously took a closer look at all of the other club members. _'At this rate she's just gong to disappear completely.'_

"We are going to raid the kitchen, and photograph the poor elves in their place of enslavement" Lavender piped up.

"That's right, I have managed to obtain directions to the kitchens from a reliable source."

"How?"

"We bribed the Weasley twins" Lavender smirked.

"They didn't make you do anything awful, did they?" Asked Hannah. Harry noticed that she was playing with an oddly shaped wooden carving. It looked a little like a turtle. Whatever it was, it looked familiar.

"No, they just wanted us to help sell some of their toys. They were gibbering something about marketing and sales-models and their usual nonsense."

While the others started to talk about the mechanics of raiding the kitchen, Harry quietly asked Hannah, "What is that?" pointing to the carving.

"Oh, this? Somebody left it for me in front of the 'Puffs common room. It was all wrapped up, in a gift box, and had a very sweet letter" Hannah was starting to blush.

"So, who's it from" Harry asked, keeping a straight face, '_Goyle is so toast!'_

"I don't know - the note wasn't signed" She sighed, "Which is too bad - I need a date for the Yule ball."

"Hmm. " Harry brain churned as he tried to find some way to turn this to his advantage. He spaced out and completely ignored the rest of the SPEW meeting. Not that they ever really discussed anything worthwhile. He was their to show support for Parvati. Since they were going to the Yule ball together, did that make them boyfriend & girlfriend. Harry scratched his head and shrugged.

*Zero*Zero*

"Harry!"

Harry stopped and turned – he had been on his way back to his common room when Hermione had called out. "Yes?" he asked tentatively. The sever girl looked more severe than usual. In the past few weeks, she had been warming up, and acting like a regular girl (almost). But she was now back to being a statue.

"I was just speaking to Professor Loew about the First Task, and he let it slip that you HADN'T actually borrowed the O-Fuda from him. When I pressed him on the topic, he refused to elaborate. Harry – did you STEAL the O-Fuda?

"Yes. But I already apologized to Professor Loew" Harry conveniently forgot to mention that he apologized after being accused.

Hermione just looked at him for several minutes. Harry felt a deer trapped in the headlights. He didn't know which way to go or what yo say.

Finally, Hermione broke the silence. "I'm really disappointed in you, Harry." as she stalked off, Harry felt like a complete heel.

*Zero*Zero*

Harry was just walking into the Ravenclaws common room when Terry called out "Potter! Time for a skull session!"

"What?"

Terry waved Harry over to a study alcove. Anthony, Simon and Padma were already sitting around a worktable, with a pile of books and an incongruous skull in the center of the table. "I figure you're our Hogwarts champion. If the 'Puffs are all going to be behind Cedric, we're going to do our best to help you. So lets see that egg."

"Um, Ok." Harry pulled the egg out of his bag. He had taken to carrying it with him so that he could fiddle with it while his brain repeatedly hit a blank wall (or whatever the idiom was). "What's with the skull?"

"That's Bob. You need a skull for a skull session," Anthony replied in an off hand fashion. Simon snickered.

As Harry plopped down on the chair, Padma pulled out a sheet of parchment, "Ok, to start off, let's list everything we know about the object"

"It's egg shaped

"It opens along a hinge"

"It's gold"

"Is it really gold, or just gold colored?" asked Terry.

Anthony pulled out his wand and cast a charm. "Yup, it's real gold."

"Who in his right mind would give a gold egg worth hundred of galleons to a bunch of teenagers? demanded Simon.

"We're getting off track" Terry interrupted, "It screeches when opened."

"Hermione and Luna are pretty certain that it's a language" added Harry, "We've been trying to research any squeaky speaking species"

"Hmm" Anthony rubbed his jaw. "Is there any way to frequency shift the audio to a range better audible to the human ear?"

"I don't know any spell like that." Padma shook her head.

"Nope."

"I'm blank too."

"Ok, so that's going to be task one: finding a frequency shifting charm." Terry made a quick note. "What else have we got?"

"Well, since we know all the tasks are going to be at Hogwarts" Harry started. The discussion had gotten him thinking, "we could try to keep our eyes open for any unusual construction or stuff. Like I had stumbled across the dragon pens before the first task."

"That's cheating!" Simon interrupted.

"No, it's not!" Harry retorted.

"The rules don't explicitly say anything about that, so it's technically not cheating," Padma added, "But I'm not certain if it's in keeping with the spirit of the competition."

"Well, both Fleur and Krum knew about the dragons ahead of time, so it must be ok."

"So just because they are breaking the rules, that justifies your doing the same?" snorted Simon, "I would like to see you try that argument with an Auror"

"Enough!" sighed Terry, "I think Harry has raised a good point. We will make that task 2. Padma and I will work on task 1, Simon and Harry will do task 2"

"I'm also trying to find out about the squeaky people" added Harry.

"Fine, we can add that as task three" Terry poked his head up and swished his wand, projecting his voice so that it would come out of the mouth of a statue on the other side of the common room, "Hey, Luna, can you come give us a hand?"

Padma frowned, then sighed in resignation.

When the slightly vacant looking blond looked up from her work, Terry waved to show where he was.

Luna frowned, gathered up her parchments and put a shoe on top of them. She started hobbling towards them, then paused with a frown. She turned around and cast a quick charm on the shoe. Then with a satisfied nod, she continued hobbling towards Terry. "So, what do you want?"

"Hey, Lovegood. We're having a skull session to come up with ways to help Harry win. Since you're already helping him out, I figured we should pool ideas. "

Luna's frown melted away, "Oh, that's a great idea! We will be Team Harry! And Simon can be the cheerleader. Every team needs a cheerleader, and Simon would look great is a skirt. Though he might want to avoid the really short ones, what with his stick like legs."

Terry rubbed his forehead, and Padma gave a look as if to say 'told you so.'

Harry put out a hand, trying to stem the tide of words before they swept away his support group.

"We currently are on task 3 - finding out who the squeaky speakers are."

"Oh, great. That will be our very own task." Luna squealed and bounced, "I like sharing things with you," she beamed at Harry.

"Uhm. ok " Harry replied, thinking Luna was in the process of sharing her status as 'class pariah' with him. As he was shaking his head, something caught his eye "Uhm, Luna, why do you only have one shoe?"

"The other one is on my school notes. THIS year, nobody is going to steal my notes, or erase parts of them, or write obscene limericks or.."

"I don't think a sticking charm is going to guarantee all that."

"Sticking charm?" Luna looked puzzled, "Why would I use that? I cast a detonation hex."

Harry boggled, "Won't that destroy your notes as well?"

Terry swore and jumped up, racing for the the other side of the room, his wand out. At the same time, Padma yelled "Guys! get back from the shoe!"

**!BOOMF!**

Luna shrugged, "Some limited collateral damage is acceptable."

A cloud of noxious foot odor rolled throughout the common room.

END chapter

As always please review, It helps motivate me to finish this fic up.

And FYI, Adam Loew is not an an original character - he's a crossover from elsewhere.


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey, Potter!" Harry looked up as Draco sat down next to him in DADA, "Why is Looney wearing a 'Team Harry' button? Are you organizing a loser fan club, or is this her own insane idea?"

Harry opened his mouth and then stopped, as he tried to figure out which of the two options was better.

"Oy, Potter, think with your mouth closed. Or you'll end up sucking up a fly" Goyle added helpfully.

"You would know about that" smirked Draco.

"Hey, Goyle's a growing boy. He can use the extra protein," Crabbe chipped in, patting Greg's stomach. Goyle tried to swat him in the head, but Crabbe ducked away and giggled.

"Oh, is that what you were doing in the bathroom, getting extra protein?" Goyle muttered with a dark scowl.

Vincent's face froze and he spun on his heels. He quickly took an empty seat at the other side of the room.

"What was that?" asked Terry.

"Nothing. I ain't saying nothing" Goyle replied with a mulish look.

"Come on, spill, man!" Draco wheedled.

"Students, please take your seats" Moody snapped, as he stomped into the room. "Today, we will be talking about the mental framework required to throw off the Imperius." He dropped a stack of parchments on his desk - last week's homework. "Just as the curse is powered by contempt, the the best defense against it is self confidence.

"I don't mean confidence in how good of a student you are or in your skills, but a deep conviction that what you WANT to do MUST be done, and by you. If you vacillate or think 'maybe I can do it later', or 'somebody else can take care of that for me', then you are doomed. So I want you to find something that you have utter conviction about, and concentrate on doing it. Granger, you have an orderly mind, lets see how you do."

Hermione stood up and and concentrated for a moment. Then she nodded when she was ready.

"Imperio. Now dance."

Hermione started to do the fox-trot.

"Hmmph. like I thought," Moody snorted. "Mr Malfoy, you're next."

One after the other, the students all were Imperio'd.

The only one who managed to throw of the Imperio was Goyle.

"Potter, lets see what you can do"

Harry stood up '_I will make it through the tournament alive'_ He nodded.

"Imperio. Dance."

He danced.

'_I will punish the Dursleys' _Harry thought desperately. Harry was used to being shown up, but being shown up by Goyle, of all people, was humiliating. He kept dancing. As his feet moved against his volition, his frustration and anger surged _'I Hate this! I'm not going to be pushed around and told what to do anymore!'_

He stopped dancing

Class ran late, so all the students had to grab their bags and quickly run to the next class. But Harry hung back. As Goyle was exiting, he asked him, "So, how did you break the Imperio?"

"Uhm.." Goyle turned beet red, "I.. uh decided I would ask the girl that I like to the Yule ball." Goyle shrugged awkwardly, and then tried to change the subject, "How did you beat it?"

Harry stared at Goyle before shaking his head in bemusement, "Nothing so extreme. I just got fed up with being pushed around. I'll see you in class."

*zero*zero*

"Since you are still not fully recovered from your adventure with the dragon, we're just going to go over katas today" Professor Loew rumbled.

"Can we do falls instead?" Harry asked. The roll he had done over the Dragon's tail had really worked great. Falls in general were easy for him. With his agility, it was easy to twist himself into the right position to bounce off the floor without harm.

"I'm sorry, Harry I can't oblige. Katas have a lot of little pieces, which if you master them, will help with the rest of your technique. Also, Ron hasn't had as much time practicing the katas, so he needs the extra time at it.

Ron nodded agreement. The two boys were dressed in gis, and were in the usual 'dojo classroom' Ron had started a little after Harry, but the reason that Harry was so far ahead of innate talent. Even though Ron practiced when he could, Harry's reflexes were just better, and he only had to be shown a move once in order to be able to duplicate it.

"Don't worry, we'll go back to practicing attacks and sparing in a few days."

Harry sighed and got into a ready stance.

"Step"

"Loosen up the arms. And don't reach. If you are too far away, you'll get him after you step in."

"Step"

"Sink down. Lower"

*zero*zero*

That evening, the SPEW team gathered in an empty corridor. Collin and Hannah were both wearing all black gym clothes, while both Lavender and Parvati had opted for their most stylish formal robes (apparently they wanted to look their best when freeing the House Elves from durance vile). Harry came dressed as Harry - he hadn't gotten the memo.

"According to my notes, the kitchen entrance is behind this painting. You just have to tickle the fruit. Colin, you have you're camera?" Parvati asked, adjusting her designer robes, just in case she was caught on camera.

While his putative girlfriend breathlessly organized the 'trip to the kitchen', as Harry thought of it, he leaned over towards Hannah Abbot "About the wood carving? It's from Gregory Goyle. "

"The Slytherin?" Hannah asked, a hint of disdain in her voice.

"Uh, yeah. He's been working on it for like, weeks." Harry figured Goyle could use all the help he could get. He just wasn't certain why he cared.

"Hum."

"There it goes!" Parvati called out as the painting squirmed and took the shape of a green door. "Quick, Everybody in!" The intrepid freedom fighters darted through the door into a vast kitchen. Dozens of house elves were cleaning and scrubbing. Many were singing or humming, though none appeared to be able to carry a tune. The noise was overwhelming.

The five students staggered to a stop. An elf popped over to them, "Oh, you is not supposed to be here. The kitchen is off limits to Hogwarts students." The elf staggered back, blinded, as Colin photographed it.

"We're here to liberate you!" pronounced Lavender.

"But… But we don't want cloths" replied the confused elf, "besides, you are not our master, so you CAN'T give us clothes, so there!" The other elves continued with their work, oblivious to the intruders in their midst.

"But you're already clothed." replied a confused Hannah.

"No, we is NOT!' retorted the angry elf.

"We don't want to give you clothes," retorted Parvati, "We just want to set you free" Lavender meanwhile had a considering look on her face, like she was trying to figure out what color would look good with the elf's pasty complexion. Apparently she hadn't quite outgrown playing 'dress up' Or perhaps she had just updated it to the teenage version of the game..

"Out!" the elf conjured a broom from thin air.

"At least you should get payed for your work" called out Hannah plaintively.

Whack! The broom hit Lavender on the bottom, "We is having work to do. Out!"

Smack

Flash! Collin took a photograph of the angry elf as he broomed Hannah on the head.

Repeated blows from the broom intermingled with flashes from the camera as the teens were swept up into a heap and pushed out of the kitchen.

The teens sprawled in a pile as the kitchen door slammed shut.

"Well, I never!" huffed Hannah, picking herself up.

Parvati dusted off her clothes, looking distraught. "There is butter on this! I don't know if a Scourgify will take it out!"

Colin glanced at his camera. "That was interesting" he beamed.

*zero*zero*

It was friday morning when Neville sat down next to Harry at breakfast. "The Yule ball is next week. You got your dress robes?"

"Oh, shoot. No. Maybe I should ask Parvati to help me get some at Hogsmead."

"You can't ask your date!" interrupted Luna, who had appeared as if out of nowhere. "That would be totally inappropriate. It would be against the Exeter Accords!" She continued, horrified. "You will have to ask Neville. Yes. He's a stolid sort." She gave a decisive, very un-Luna-like nod.

"I don't know anything about clothes!" protested Neville, "Gran does all my clothes shopping for me!"

Luna sighed, "very well. I guess there is no alternative. I'll take you shopping."

Harry glanced at Luna in horror. This was the girl who wore mismatched… everything. who made jewelry out of radishes and bottle caps. And she was going to offer him fashion advice?

Seeing his look, Luna added quickly, "Oh, don't worry, I'm not going to go on some all day orgy of girl shopping. We'll shop like a guy: We'll dart in, find the robes you want, defeat them in fair combat and dart back out. It won't take more than an hour, I promise. And if it does, I'll buy you ice cream."

Harry wasn't certain what to say. But Luna usually had that effect on people. "Ok. I guess."

Luna beamed "Great! It's a da.. a plan" she corrected herself quickly.

*zero*zero*

"Since we only have one more class until winter break, we are going to do something a little different today - we are going to look at Gematria." Professor Loew gently sat on the front of the teachers desk in the Foreign Runes classroom. It creaked but did not collapse, "Gematria is a tool used by Hebrew mages to link unrelated concepts together. It works best in Hebrew, but since none of you are knowledgeable in that language, we will use use a modified version that works with the roman alphabet."

"The idea in Gematria is that one adds up the numerical value of the letters of a word, and finds another word with the same numerical value. Then, by incorporating one word into your spell, you can more easilly affect the other. Aternately, you can use that number into your spell, so that the spell affect both concepts.

"Since roman letters don't have an intrinsic numerical value, the power of Gematria is greatly reduced, but it is still useful in spell creation."

"For instance, "Reparo" has the value of 276, the same as plate or clothes. Which is why that spell is most effective on those two items. "

"Or if you want to transmute Cedric into some sort of animal (usually a very difficult spell to cast on an sentient creature) you would have an easier time with transforming him into a cat, since both his name and cat have a value of 104"

"In hebrew, the Gematria is powerful enough to act as its own spell. For instance," professor Loew held up a cup of wine "nichnas yayin sod" He then walked over to Cedric.

"I will whisper a word to you - a 'secret' and then you will take a sip of this wine and repeat that 'secret' to the class." Professor Loew Leaned in and said something quietly to the teen.

Cedric nodded in agreement. He took a sip and then opened his mouth. Nothing happened. He tried again. "I can't say it!" he looked surprised. He tried saying a few other words. All came out fine except one.

Professor Loew nodded, "The phrase I pronounced linked the concept of wine and secret. The effect will wear off in a couple of hours, once you have metabolized the wine."

"Professor, if Hebrew is so useful in magic, why are most of our spells in Latin?" Cedric asked

"The problem with Hebrew is that it is TOO easy to link ideas together. Jewish kabbalists spend their whole lives finding and studying these connections. but for daily spell casting, most wizards find it easier to use latin - it's more controlled. And since it is a dead language, the definitions are set and not going to change over the years. Five points to Hufflepuff for a good question"

"Class, please turn to the first page of your hand out - it has the tables for the commonly accepted values for roman letters." There are three systems listed: from there, the professor went into the various merits of each system. Harry happily scribbled notes. You never knew when some piece of knowledge might save your ass from being toasted by a dragon. Especially in Professor Loew's class.

*zero*zero*

"I am pleasantly surprised with how much Mr Potter has improved this semester. First there was his remarkable performance in the first task, and now his charms and transfiguration are improving markedly." Dumbledore beamed at the other professors gathered in his office for a weekly faculty meeting.

Flitwick nodded, "I don't know what Adam did, but Harry is now performing at grade level. His motions are smooth and precise, and we are just going over the material from this year, to make sure that he is solid on it. Next semester, he could stop with the tutoring except that with this Triwizard business, I want to tutor him in some advanced material."

"Are you certain that is absolutely fair?" McGonagall asked, her lips compressed.

"I am not going to provide him any material dealing specifically with the tasks, but I will cover some spells that the other contestants all know. Partly in the name of leveling the playing field, but also to help Harry avoid injury - the Tournament IS geared for more advanced students."

"I agree with Filius" Albus nodded. "And Harry should also continue on with Adam's physical exercise regimen, as that seems to be at the heart of Harry's wonderful improvements. Now, before we go on to the meat of the meeting, so to speak, are there any other issue with particular students?"

Old man Moody hurrumphed, "Is there any way we can lure that Hermione Granger girl back to Hogwarts? She is a true prodigy, and it would be a shame for Britain to lose a witch of her caliber."

Dumbledore quirked an eyebrow at his old friend, "I don't think where our graduates live really depends on which school they attend, but from my conversations with miss Granger, she intends to return to Britain after she completes her schooling. Now, on to the next order of business."

*zero*zero*

Harry finished his breakfast and took a look at his watch, '_Do I really want to do this?' _Harry was supposed to meet up with Luna for their 'guy-style' shopping trip. On the one hand, Harry wasn't shy about admitting that he needed help. On the other, it was Luna. 'W_ell, she's a girl - she probably not going to be ready for another half hour. I'll just sneak back to the dorms'_ As Harry stood up, Luna skipped into view. She was wearing a yellow sun dress, and had a parchment wadded up in her left hand. She was dressed remarkably normally. If it had been summer, instead of mid winter, that is.

"Are you ready to go? Great! let's go!" She blurted, not letting Harry say a word. She was much more high energy today than her usual moon-child self. She grabbed Harry's hand as if to pull him along, but immediately let go, glancing at a corner of her badly wrinkled parchment.

"Um, ok" Harry grabbed his winter cloak from the back of the chair as he followed Luna out of the great hall. He felt like he was being dragged along in her undertow.

They walked out the main gate. Well, Harry walked. Luna was skipping along along like a girl half her age, "So, how about them Chuddley Cannons?" she asked brightly.

"You mean, why do they stink?" Harry asked puzzled. It was a unseasonably warm day, but most of the other students they passed were dressed in warm robes and some wore overcoats. More than a few cast puzzled glances at Luna.

"Well, that's probably because they don't bathe. You know how jocks are - they need a personal trainer just to tell them what to eat. I mean are they good this year?"

"No, I meant that they suc.." Harry stopped himself. He didn't want to hear how Luna would misinterpret that - it would scar him mentally, "They are playing poorly this year. Just like last year and every other year in recorded history." Harry paused, "and of course they need a personal trainer to help them stay fit. If they aren't fit, they won't win games"

"Girls know what to eat and what not to eat to stay skinny without needing a personal trainer." Luna responded amiably, "and if the personal trainer is supposed to make them fit so that they can win games, yet they keep losing, maybe they should fire their personal trainer."

"Maybe they should fire the whole team, burn the clubhouse to the ground and start from scratch." Harry replied, "I didn't know you were interested in quidditch"

"I'm not, but I wanted to start a conversation about something that YOU enjoy. After all, the point of today is to have fun, so that shopping will no longer seem like such a traumatic experience."

"Ooh-kay" Harry smiled, bemused.

As the pair walked into Hogsmead, Luna glanced quickly at her parchment, "Ok, business first! let's go find you Gladrags Wizardwear." Luna again consulted her parchment, straightening out a section that appeared to have a tiny map sketched on it. "This way!"

They soon entered a clothing shop. It had a wild array of clothes, from the sedate to the neon red. "Uhm, which of these are the dress robes?" asked Harry.

"Beats me," shrugged Luna, "I have no fashion sense. Ask anybody." As Harry opened his mouth to ask the obvious question, she called out "Pardon me!" as she flagged down a passing sales person, "we are looking some men's dress robes."

The young bald man led them to small back section of the store, near the mens dressing rooms.

"How come if you have no fashion sense.." began Harry as he browsed through the selection.

"It's not that I don't have fashion sense," replied Luna defensively, "it's just fashion makes no sense. Why wear clothing that is uncomfortable, tight in all the wrong places, when you can wear something comfortable. That's just makes sense."

"Wearing that," Harry pointed to Luna's sun dress, "makes sense?"

"YES! It's bright and cheerful, as opposed to 'fashionable' clothing, which usually comes in some shade of black or possibly grey."

"But it's winter, and that's a summer dress!"

"Exactly!" beamed Luna, "what better time to wear it?"

"I think… I understand. Which scares me," Harry replied. Usually when he was talking to girls, he spent half his time trying to figure out what the right thing to say was. But with Luna, he gave up. half of what she said made no sense, so he figured as long as his replies kept scoring above 50% on the sanity meter, he was doing better than she was, so it was all good.

It was actually kind of fun.

"Uhm, how about this one?" he held up a set of dress robes that matched his two criteria - they would fit him and they would fit his budget.

"Hmm. I like them! very cheerful and friendly." Luna took the robes from Harry's hand and tossed them back on the rack, "That means that they won't do. Look for something snarlier, like what your friend Malfoy wears"

Harry lost track of how long they were looking at cloths, as Luna made witty or silly comments about every piece of clothing, finally, as they were reaching the end of the rack, they were left with two pieces that Luna had not discarded out of hand. "So, which one?"

"Hold them up for me to take a closer look." Harry held up one in each hand. "Hmmm - this one radiates kindness, but this one matches your eyes…" Luna stood with her right hand rubbing her chin while her left supported it by the elbow. "Oh, I have no clue. Sales Person! Where is he? Did a Blibbering Humdingers eat him? Oh, sales person. Here sales person, sales person, sales person…" she chanted singsong.

"Yes, miss?" the bald salesman appeared, with a long suffering sigh.

"Which of these two is more fashionable? We are looking for dress robe that would be appropriate to go to the Yule Ball in."

"Well, the green one is more stylish, but honestly, neither one have been hot sellers this year. This one over here, and this one as well, are very much in vogue" He pulled out two robes that they had discarded earlier. Luna took the two robes from Harry's hands and draped them over the sales person before taking one of the ones he had indicated at seeming random, "This will do! Thank you so much!"

Sigh. "Very well. And would miss like to try on some matching robes while she is here?"

Harry blanched, "Oh, I'm not going to the Yule ball with her!"

The sales person quirked an eyebrow and gave him a puzzled look. "Very well. I will ring this up. come this way."

'_He thought we were dating!'_ As Harry paid, he glanced around to see if there were any other patrons in the store who might be under a similar impression. Especially fellow Hogwarts students.

Harry picked up his parcel and started haltingly, "Uhm, I'm going to go to the quidditch shop. I figure you're going to want to head back to Hogwarts, I'll be seeing…"

"Oh, Look at the time!" Luna interrupted, "Your Wrackspurts must have made me lose all track of time." She leaned in and added conspiratorially "You should have the colony that is nesting in your head taken care, you know, before they do permanent damage to your mind." Luna grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him along "Come on! There is not time to waste!"

"What? Where are we going?" Harry replied, completely lost. He held on tight to his package as Luna pulled him through the people strolling the shopping district.

"I promised that if it took longer than an hour to buy you your robes, that I would treat you to an ice cream."

"You don't have to."

Luna stopped and whirled to face Harry, for the first time looking annoyed, "Are you saying I don't have to keep my word?" Her voice had dropped an octave. "Is that what you are saying?"

"Um, no, I didn't mean that" Harry staggered back.

"Good. Come on, then!" she skipped away. Harry followed, He wasn't certain what had just happened, but he didn't want to hurt Luna's feelings.

As Luna led the way towards The Three Broomsticks, a light snow began to fall. Luna carefully crossed to the other side of the street when passing in front of Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop.

As they entered the the eatery, Luna again consulted her now almost destroyed parchment, "For the ice cream, I was thinking of of screaming cherry for me and a chocolate swamp for you, right?"

"That would be great! I love chocolate ice cream."

Harry took a booth as far away from the other students as he possibly could while Luna placed her order. The Three Broomsticks was packed with Hogwarts students, but they were all in cliques that were chatting animatedly, completely oblivious to everybody else. He felt vaguely guilty about all the work that Luna was doing - first helping him shop, then ordering (and paying for) ice cream. But he wasn't certain what to do about it.

When Luna sat down with their ice creams, he commented, "You know, you haven't been as, you know, scattered today as you usually are." '_Oh, god that came out wrong. She's going to kill me.'_

Luna's shoulders hunched up and she dug at her ice cream for a bit, "After my mom passed away, dad got a little,.. I don't know" she shrugged again. Her shoulders were almost up to her ears. There was a long pause as Luna searched for words. She finally finished with "I'm too young to be the responsible one in the family."

"Well, I don't have that problem. My aunt and uncle certainly don't think I'm responsible at all. They treat me like a particularly stupid House Elf. I try to avoid being at home as much as possible."

"It doesn't really sound like much of a home."

"I guess not." Harry dug his spoon into his bowl of bubbling brown sludge and ate some of the ice cream, "This is good. Thank you. It's really sad, but Hogwarts feels more like a home."

"And the students as a family. That explains Draco - he's the idiot brother."

"Hey, Draco's my friend."

Luna froze and quickly consulted her parchment. "So.. how is your martial arts training with Professor Loew coming?"

"Great. It's a lot of fun, and I get to beat up on Ron - he's taking the class with me" Harry barely managed to restrain his glee. It was rare that he was better at something than his peers.

They chatted amiably, with Luna steering the conversation to 'safe' topics with many glances to her parchment.

As the two teens finished their ice cream, Luna crumpled up her parchment and tossed it into the trash. "we should probably get going."

"Aren't you afraid somebody will read all your secret plans" asked Harry with a smirk.

"No, I wrote it in gobbledygook…" Luna's eyes got big, "I mean, it's not anything like that - it's just some notes on conversations starters, because, you know, I'm not very good at that sort of thing. I tend to say what's on my mind, and that annoys people or makes them think I'm crazy. That would have been bad, very, very bad. Though usually I don't mind - it keeps the boring people from talking to me."

Harry smiled and nodded. He wasn't certain what Luna was babbling about, but it was amusing watching her. He swirled on his cloak and held the door for Luna. As they stepped out into the swirling snow, Luna gave a sudden shiver "It's cold out!"

"Um, yes. It's WINTER. So nice of you to notice" Harry replied acidly.

"Yes, well, my warming charm has worn off" Luna pointed to her sun dress.

"So cast another one." Harry sighed.

"Hello? Do you see any pockets?" Luna gestured at her dress, "Where do you expect me keep my wand?"

"You don't have it with you?" Somehow, that did not surprise Harry. "I can cast a warming charm, but it's not going to be powerful enough to do anything in this weather."

"No, I left it back in my room, but you can search around for it if you wish." Luna held her arms up at her sides and thrust out her chest while closing her eyes.

"No, that's ok. So what are you going to do? You could buy a cloak, I guess."

"No pocket, so no money. Sun dress remember?" Luna's face lit up ""I know, I'll share your cloak!" she darted in under Harry's cloak, pressing in close.

Harry froze. While he had gotten somewhat inured to Luna's brand of Luna-cy, this was.. this was.. Actually, it was kind of nice. He glance to the left and to the right, but with the increasing snow, people were huddled inside their robes and not looking around. He pulled up his hood _'Nobody will recognize me'_ he rationalized.

The two teens made their way back to Hogwarts. As they came within sight of the main entrance, Luna stepped away, "I think my heating charm has a little life left in it" She smiled happily at Harry,

And they entered as they had left, walking separately.

*zero*zero*

The next three days were a zoo. The students were all done with classes, so all that was left was getting ready for the Yule ball. It seemed like all the girls were clustered together, gossiping. Harry tried to spend time with Parvati, but she was busy with orchestrating her wardrobe.

"Harry, a boy shouldn't see the girl's dress before the dance. Don't worry - it will be stunning" she shooed him off.

And he kept running into Luna, who was handing out 'Team Harry' buttons to anybody who didn't flee. Which was incredibly awkward, as he didn't know how to act around her now, so whenever he saw her he quickly left the room. As a result, he spent much of the time hiding out in his dorm.

On Christmas day, the day of the Yule ball, Harry was hanging out in his dorm. His classmates had spent the morning looking through their gifts before going down for brunch. But Harry, as usual, got nothing, so he saw no point in getting out of bed before lunch time. He grabbed a book on Arithromancy and got a start on next semester's reading.

"Oye, Potter, you seen the Daily Prophet?" Draco asked, lounging against the post of Harry's bed. Harry wasn't certain why he had given Draco the password for the Ravenclaw Common room. He also wasn't certain when Draco and his his goon-in-chief (Goyle) had shown up. Draco held up the newspaper in question.

"No. What about it?" Harry asked timidly. He still remembered First year, when that stupid paper kept running articles about him ALL YEAR LONG.

"You little buddy, Colin Creepy, got a photo on the front page." Draco tossed the paper to Harry.

"He's not my buddy. He just hangs around SPEW, so I can't avoid him." Harry protested as he picked up the paper.

"**House Elves Assault Students**" screamed the headline. The subtitle said "should they all be given Clothes?" The photo for the article was of a House Elf wielding a broom preparing to attack the SPEW members. "Oh, this is from when Parvati tried to raid the kitchen."

"You know how to raid the kitchen?" Goyle perked up. That boy liked his food, and it showed.

"Yeah, There's a secret entrance, but the elves get really upset if you go in there. Like in the photo."

"Oh."

"You ready for the dance?" Draco interrupted nervously.

"Yeah. I bought a set of formal robes." he waved off to one side, where the article of clothing was draped.

"Is that what Looney recommended?" smirked Draco

"No, I got advice from the salesman." Harry said disdainfully.

"Good call, Potter, or you would be wearing a green dress with purple polka dots or something equally stupid."

"Probably. She has horrible taste." smiled Harry remembering Luna's antics. _'The funny thing is she knows it.'_

Draco picked up the newspaper and straightened it back up before putting it under his arm. Goyle sat down on Terry's bed. The three boys were the only one currently up in the dorm area. All the other fourth year Ravenclaws were jittering down in the common room.

"Where's Crabbe?' asked Harry, to change the subject.

"He's been avoiding us for the last couple of days. says he has to make up some work. But I figure he's trying desperately to find some girl dumb enough to go with him to the ball. At least Goyle was smart enough not to bother trying."

Goyle smiled nervously and shrugged.

"Anyway, I should go get my new Armani robes. The Ball starts in a couple of hours." Draco sauntered out. Goyle staggered up as well. As he lumbered out, he paused and turned back to Harry. "Good choice on the robes - I'm wearing the same ones."

*zero*zero*

As the students lined up to enter the great hall, which had been transformed by the elves into a ballroom, Harry waited nervously for Parvati. At least he saw that about half the guys were wearing the same sort of dress robes as him, so that was a relief.

He saw Neville go by, chatting nervously with Susan Bones. Neville waived but didn't stop.

Still no Parvati.

More students swept by, all looking at their best. The girls especially looked scarily mature. But what really surprised him was Goyle, He walked up to Harry with Hannah Abbot on his arm, looking almost like a gentlemen. "Hey, Harry. Parvati's not here yet?" he asked.

"No, she's late" Harry sighed in exasperation.

"Don't worry, she's probably just trying to look her best for you." consoled Hannah.

"Yeah. She probably just a little slow cause she's nervous." added Goyle. Hannah smiled and patted his arm. "Anyway good luck. I'll see ya'" Goyle walked towards Nott, to show off Hannah. He studiously ignored Draco's stunned look.

"Oh, there you are!" Parvati swept in, dressed in an elegant ball gown.

Harry's brain froze. 'S_he's stunning.'_

"Come on, They're just opening the doors!" Parvati took Harry's arm and drew him along, waving to Lavender. They swept into the ball room, and were quickly ushered up onto the stage by some ministry flunky. The young red haired man proceeds to introduce the Triwizard champions and their dates.

Harry isn't certain what the pompous wind bag actually said: He was too nervous thinking about having to dance. His stomach was tied in knots and his hands were clammy. He had trouble concentrating on what he was looking at, so he just nodded and grimaced as Parvati led the two of them past cluster of her friends.

He had to DANCE. HE had to dance. In front of the whole freaking SCHOOL! Parvati didn't seem worried. She was practically bouncing with energy. Finally, Windbag (or whatever his name was - Harry vaguely felt that he knew who he was, but he currently couldn't get his gray matter to produce anything more than fearful gibbering), stopped talking and The Weird Sisters started playing.

Harry swallowed reflexively and stepped down to the dance floor.

*zero*zero*

Harry poured himself a glass of punch '_Thank god that's over'_. The opening dance had been horrible. He had stumbled though it, trailing Parvati. The three other champions had made it seem easy. _'Maybe I should have taken dance classes instead of Martial Arts classes' _Harry glanced up at where Parvati was chatting with Lavender and her sister, '_At least she doesn't seem annoyed with me.'_

Fleur had come with Roger Davis, and Cedric was with Cho (of course), while Krum had managed to dance remarkably well with some girl from Beauxbatons.

"Go, mingle" Harry Looked up. Professor Loew was standing next to the drink table, making sure nobody (like, say the twins) messed with the punch.

"Um. ok. And, um, Merry Christmas, professor."

"Thank you, Harry, but I am Jewish" Adam rumbled with a smile.

Harry looked around for any of his friends, but they all had girls with them, and didn't look like they wanted company. Except Crabbe - he had come stag, as promised, but without Draco they had nothing in common, and the Malfoy heir was fawning over Pansy Parkinson, the pug-nosed Slytherin girl who laughed too loudly. Harry walked over to Parvati's clique. "Hey, there."

"Hi, Harry. Pull up a chair" Parvati replied with a smile before turning back to Lavender, " So anyway the shoes arrived at the last moment. I mean the last possible moment - the delivery owl swooped in just as I was starting to pull my hair out.." she continued. Harry listened for a while. He glanced at the other girls. Lavender appeared to be listening raptly. Padma had zoned out and was writing runes on her napkin.

'_I wonder if Luna is here?' _Harry immediately felt guilty for the thought, but that didn't stop him from taking a look around. Luna was nowhere to be seen, but Hermione was in a similar pose to Padma, listening to Fleur.

Harry shrugged and made his way over to that corner of the room.

"Hey, having fun?"

Hermione looked up from her book, and her face became a little less severe. "Actually, yes." she patted a chair next to her, "come take a seat."

Harry shrugged and looked around. Nobody was paying any attention to him, so he sat down, "so, are we friends?"

Hermione sighed, "Yes, we're friends. But I am still disappointed about how you acted."

"I.. " A dozen excuses spun through Harry's mind, and they were at the tip of his tongue, but he bit them off '_Actions will speak louder than words.'_ "Are you certain you're having fun? All you are doing is reading." he replied.

"I LIKE reading. And I like reading with my friends." She gestured towards Fleur, who gushing over some other girls dress, "having the conversations flow around me is very soothing. Speaking of reading, have you found anything on the Squeaky People?"

"Umm, No" Harry looked down at his feet, "I've been kind of distracted."

"Yes, I can imagine dating Parvati can be distracting" Hermione replied primly, "But you need to get to work on figuring the egg out: it's your life on the line."

"I, know! I know" Harry looked around and lowered his voice, conscious that he was attracting odd looks, "I'll work on it over break. Are you going to be here for the Hols?"

"No, I'm portkeying straight to my parents house after the dance."

"I thought you had to take the train to get to and from Hogwarts"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Thats only for students enrolled at Hogwarts. I'm a Beauxbatons student. It's a silly tradition. Hogwarts is full of them."

"Hey, it gives the school character."

"Yeah, whatever. Just don't slack off, ok?"

Harry stood up and looked over at Parvati. She obviously hadn't noticed that he was not around, _'some date this is' ._"Yeah, maybe I'll start now." He walked off. Hermione gave him a look for his display of peevishness, then with a shrug pulled out her book and went back to reading.

*zero*zero*

As Harry stalked off through the corridors of Hogwarts, his annoyance grew to full blown anger. Parvati hadn't acted in any way different than usual, so he wasn't certain why he was so angry with her, but he was.

Harry walked into the Ravenclaws common room. It was empty, as all the students still at the school were down at the dance. _'Maybe I should go to the Gryf's common room and leave a little 'present' for Parvati.' _He stalked back out.

At the portrait guarding the door to the Gryffindor common room, though, he was stumped.

"I can't let you in without the password, dear" The Fat Lady reminded him. Harry stopped and leaned against the wall opposite the portrait. _'I could Confundo her, but I'm not certain I can that spell right on the first try.'_ Harry mused. He was certain if he tried to force his way in, the Fatty Lady would go screaming off for help. '_What excuse would she accept to let me in without a password. Maybe a medical emergency?' _He glanced at the painting - the Fat Lady looked like she was settling into her chair for a nap _'Whatever I do, it better be soon.'_

Harry stepped up to the portrait and had just opened his mouth when a girl flew through the paining and stopped just short of slamming into him.

Harry jerked backward, falling on his rear before spinning back up in a fighting stance.

"Eep!" the girl eeped, freezing in place. Harry took a closer look at her - she looked to be about 11 years old, with red hair. And the fact that she was floating several inches off the floor made it clear that she was a ghost. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you,." she apologized with automatic politeness.

"It's ok. It looks like I scared you just as bad." Harry smiled.

"Did not! After all I'm dead, so what could scare me?" she replied with a pout.

Harry shook his head in amusement, "Well, I am pleased to meet you, anyway. I thought I knew all the ghosts at Hogwarts. I am Harry Potter" During his first year, Harry had taken notes on all the local ghosts and their usual haunts, because he was nervous that one of them might see him doing something he shouldn't (like passing notes in History of Magic or something) and report him to Dumbledore or worse, the Dursleys. Harry smiled at the memory. He had been such a clueless kid. The ghosts didn't care what you did.

"I know who you are" The ghost girl replied with a huff, "The Boy-Wh-Lived, Harry Potter."

"I haven't heard that in a while - I thought people got that title out of their systems after my first year" Harry shook his head in annoyance. It had taken the media (and some of the students) almost the whole year to decide that he was just a normal kid, and that he wasn't going to do anything special. "But who are you?"

"I'm Ginny Weasley"

"OH." Harry's eyes got big. He had heard the story about her - she had been abducted as a first year and used in some sort of Dark ritual that was supposed to destroy the whole school, but instead of succumbing to it, she had forced herself to become a ghost so that she could go warn Dumbledore. She had been a hero, albeit a tragic one, to the students last year.

"You know you should close your mouth, or you're going to catch flies" As Harry's mouth snapped shut, she continued, but less confidently, "You.. I hear that you're competing in the Triwizard thingee.." she looked down and swept her toe back in forth, as if she was drawing in the dirt, despite hanging several inches off of the floor. She clutched her hands behind her back

"Uhm yeah? Do you know something about it?" Harry asked quizzically, his spite at Parvati forgotten.

"Um, maybe?" She looked around nervously, "The other ghosts said I am not supposed to tell a living soul about what I see, and that I should avoid contact with people who I knew when I was alive. But I didn't ACTUALLY know you, you know?"

"Please, I could use all the help I can get." Harry asked in his best 'mature' voice. '_If I act all whiney, she's going to laugh at me and fly off.'_

"Yeah, you're not a very good student are you?" Her eyes got big as she said that, "I'm sorry!" she clutched her hands to her mouth in horror, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude." She looked at Harry's desperate face and gave a theatrical sigh, she glanced around to see if there was anybody (or any-ghost) around. The Fat Lady was snoring quietly, and otherwise, the corridor was empty. She whispering conspiratorially "Try holding the egg under water as you open it." She turned to flee.

"Why?"

"Because then.. No, I shouldn't tell you, but it's what that big boobed french floozy did." She darted into the wall.

end chapter

As always, reviews are appreciated


	7. Chapter 7

It was almost new years, and most of the students that had stayed for the Yule Ball had gone home. This was one of Harry's favorite times of the year - no Dursleys, no school, and it felt like he had all of Hogwarts to himself. There was no avoiding the professors at meal times, but he didn't really talk to them then, so it was ok.

Harry twisted his shim, popping the lock on the Ravenclaw Prefects bathroom. And best of all, he could soak for hours in the perfects private bathtub. It was so huge it was almost a swimming pool. The Dursleys had insisted that if Harry took more than a 5 minute shower that he was wasting water. And here, he could fill the whole tub! And the water never got cold.

But today, he was here on business. He set the bag with the golden egg down by the side of the pool, erg.. bathtub, and adjusted the water until it was just the right temperature.

Harry climbed in with a sigh. After soaking for a few minutes, he grabbed the egg and gently lowered it into the water '_I hope this doesn't ruin it'_ but honestly, he had no other leads, and he was getting desperate. _'Here goes nothing'_. He finished pushing the egg under the warm water. A stream of bubbles rose up from it, but nothing else happened. He then carefully eased it open: The screeching was replaced by muted singing. Harry frowned, it was too faint.

He closed the egg and, put his head under the water with it, and opened it again.

_Come seek us where our voices sound,_

_We cannot sing above the ground,_

_And while you're searching ponder this;_

_We've taken what you'll sorely miss,_

_An hour long you'll have to look,_

_And to recover what we took,_

_But past an hour, the prospect's black,_

_Too late it's gone, it won't come back._

Harry ripped his head back out of the water and took a deep breath. He leaned over and pulled a quill and parchment from his bag. After jotting down the rhyme as best could, he stuck his head under water to make sure he hadn't missed any words. Repeat, lather, rinse. _'That's not good.' _Harry didn't know any way to breath under water for an hour. That required much more magic than he knew. Maybe he could rummage through professor Loew's desk again, _'No, that won't work, he probably has it locked up now. And besides, if Hermione finds out...'._ Could he trade Draco something for a water breathing spell?

Harry sank down and blew bubbles out into the bath-water. _'Wait a minute - maybe I can check the potions text book - this sort of thing is more potions work rather than wand work._' Harry soaked for another two minutes, and then reluctantly levered himself out of the tub and got dressed.

He grabbed his potions textbooks, as well as some other potions books that he had picked up over the years, and headed for the library. '_Good thing Draco isn't here. He would say that I'm turning into a boring 'Claw - study, study study'_ Harry snorted. Like he would ever work this hard if his neck wasn't on the line.

*Zero*Zero*

The first day of the second term saw some tempers flare. Parvati was in a foul mood because of Collin's photograph. "I can't believe that you did that to me!" she yelled at the younger boy. She had cornered him outside the Great hall as he tried to sneak in to have lunch.

"But didn't you read the article? Rita Skeeter was calling for the Elves to be given clothes and emancipated. That's what you want, right?" He cringed into a corner, his eyes darting for any path to freedom.

"You mean kicked out of Hogwarts! You made them out to be bad guys, when it's the people who exploit them that are evil! You're as bad as they are!" Parvati turned to storm off and saw Harry, who had been watching the exchange from the side lines, along with numerous students, "Oh". She seemed to deflate "Hi. Can we talk?" she grabbed Harry and pulled him along in her wake.

*Zero*Zero*

"I'm sorry for ignoring you at the dance," Parvati apologized, looking downcast. She had dragged Harry into an empty classroom.

"Yeah… I… " Harry hemmed, "I guess I could have done a better job of hanging around as well."

"It's ok. So, you want to try again? Maybe we could go out for the next Hogsmead weekend?"

"Yeah, That would be great" Harry's face lit up.

"Um, I hate to ask you, because I feel like I'm imposing…" Parvati trailed off, looking guilty.

"No worries - ask away" Harry beamed.

"Next time you're up with the other Champions, like at the Second Task or whatever, could you tell people that the elves didn't attack us? that it was all a misunderstanding?"

"Sure, I guess" Harry replied slowly, trying to figure out howe he would do something like that.

""You're a good boyfriend" Parvati gave Harry a peck on the cheek as she left.

*Zero*Zero*

"Hey, Draco, you know any way to breath under water?" Harry asked as he swung onto a chair in 'their' classroom. Today, Crabbe was lounging around with Draco, but Goyle was absent. Draco had a copy of 'Playwizard' out on the desk, and Crabbe was leaning in close over his shoulder to peer at it.

"Is somebody giving you a swirly, Potter?" Draco smirked. Crabbe guffawed and high fived his leader.

"Well, do you?" Demanded Harry, annoyed.

"Nope, not a clue" Draco shrugged, "So why do you need to know?"

Harry sighed, "Where's Goyle?"

"He's probably sucking face with that Hannah" Crabbe growled, "But we're better off without him around."

Draco nodded, "Yeah, he's been a downer all this year. I don't know what happened to him. Oye, Potter, you want some of this?" He waved the magazine towards Harry.

Harry got up "I got stuff to do. You two have fun with each other" and walked out.

Harry went through his mental checklist of people he could ask as he walked towards the 'Puff common room _'I'll ask Goyle first, if he doesn't know, maybe I can see if I can ask Hermione.'_ He didn't want to ask the French girl - she was SUPPOSED to be rooting for the other team, so it felt weird. And he wasn't 100 percent certain that she had gotten over him stealing the O-Fuda for the First Task. She _said _ she was, but.. she was acting different towards him now. Besides, she had already done a lot to help him out. He didn't want her think he was a helpless loser who needed help with every little thing. He was still lost in thought as he approached the Hufflepuff dorms

"Oof!"

Harry staggered back as Cedric bounced off of him. "Hey, you ok, Harry?" Cedric recovered.

"Yeah, I'm good. Do you know how to breath underwater?" Harry blurted.

"What? No. I don't think so." Cedric replied, obviously puzzled.

Harry looked at his former tutor for a moment before shrugging. "Is Goyle inside?" He pointed at the common room that Cedric had just darted out of.

"Yeah, he is." Cedric turned continue on his way.

"Hey, Cedric" Harry called after him, "stick the egg under water" He turned and knocked on the door. '

*Zero*Zero*

Harry headed back up to the Ravenclaws' tower. Goyle had been a bust. He probably didn't know anything. Probably. Because 90% of his mind had been on Hannah during the conversation. And with Goyle, that didn't leave much left over. _'who else do I know who could help? Maybe Ron? No.. He's good at anything that involved Dada or fighting, but that's about it.'_ Sigh, _'I wish my friends weren't so useless'_ Harry answered the riddle to get into the Dorms. "Wait a minute!"

"Hey, Terry," he walked over to his classmate, "Do you have Bob handy?"

"Why, what's up?" Terry looked up from revising his notes.

"I, ah, want to do another 'skull session'" Harry replied awkwardly, "I need to figure out how to breath under water."

"That's cool" Terry pointed his wand to tall shelf looking down on the main door "Accio Bob!" the skull flew down to Terry's hand, "I keep him up there so that he can keep an eye out for trouble," Terry confided as he looked around for whom he could call.

"Dude, You sound like Luna" Harry replied before he could stop himself,

Terry shrugged, "everybody's weird in their own way. It's just most people know when to flaunt it and when to keep it under their hat."

Soon, Terry, Simon, Luna and Harry were sitting around Bob the skull. "So, what have we got? Terry looked at the rhyme that Harry had jotted down. "I think you're right about the water - the voices must be singing in Mermish - I was trying to modify an English to Mermish translation spell to use on the egg."

"Why didn't you just tell Harry to stick in the water?" asked Simon.

"Yeah, in retrospect it was pretty stupid. I had been wondering why there was a spell to translate from English into Mermish, but not the other way around. I guess as long as you are under water, you don't NEED a spell." Terry scowled in annoyance. "Well, so task 1 is going to be to find the best way to breath under water. Simon, you look up charms - start with the bubble head charm, and see if there is anything better. I'll look for transfigurations, and Luna, you're on potions."

Simon leaned over conspiratorially to Harry, "would you actually DRINK something Luna prepared?"

Harry frowned, "At least she has my best interests in mind, unlike some."

Simon laughed and slapped Harry on the back, "I'm not going to screw you over, Potter. Getting you to not be a loser is a huge challenge, and I like challenges."

"Back to work, boys and girls," Terry reminded the teens, "task two is going to be a detection charm. Harry is going to have only an hour to find something under water. It's tricky casting 'point me' in a dark, viscous environment."

"That reminds me," added Harry, "I need some way to see under water."

"That's tasks three. Why don't you take it" Terry nodded to Harry, "I will work on task 2 until I can delegate it to somebody. Probably Padma - she's volunteered to be on Team Harry as well, but she has class right now."

Harry glanced at his watch, "speaking of - I have to get to class myself." Harry jumped up and grabbed his books. As he was about to leave the table, he spun around, "And guys, thanks for helping me out like this. It's really great of you."

"We're housemates, mate. That's what we do," replied Terry.

*Zero*Zero*

As Harry walked quickly towards his remedial charms session '_Why does it have to be on the other side of the castle_', He noticed Luna walking at his side, "Oh, Hello. I didn't see you there.

"I know", she replied in her usual spacey tone, "otherwise you wouldn't be here." Before Harry could reply to the barb, she continued, "Thank you for defending my honor, with Simon."

Harry stopped and looked at confused for a moment at Luna's phrasing, "Luna, you're a really unusual person. But who isn't a little weird, sometimes." Harry stopped and tried to think of a way to put his thoughts into words. Luna waited patiently. Nothing really felt right, so he finished with "And you're also one of the nicest people I know."

Luna stepped in, and before Harry knew what was happening, gave him a tight hug. She then grabbed his hand and pulled him after her as she skipped down the corridor, "Come on, we're going to be late for remedial Charms"

*Zero*Zero*

"Ok, Mr Potter, lets try something a little bit more challenging" Harry had been working on his _Glacius _charm for the past ten minutes. Flitwick had him cast it repeatedly on a bucket of water. It was a third year charm, but Harry had always had a lot of trouble with it. But he seemed to be getting the hang of it - he had turned the water to ice every single time. Harry felt like cheering.

"I want you to try the Accio charm that we were working on last semester. Remember to move your arm more fluidly. Pretend the tip of your wand is pulling something in" Flitwick demonstrated the charm on a textbook. He then went over to Luna "Very good work, young lady" Luna was manipulating a Carpe Retractum spell, working a golden stream of light that was opening and closing the windows, one after the other. "Now if only you showed this level of concentration in class, you wouldn't need to be here."

Luna nodded dreamily, "Thank you for letting me know that if I show this level of concentration in class, I wouldn't need to be here." Here eyes drifted momentarily to Harry, and then snapped back to the spell. her expression became more focused. "I find it easier to concentrate here."

Flitwick glanced between Luna and Harry and sighed, 't_eenagers'_ "Very well, Miss Lovegood, but please remember that what you perfect in class, you can demonstrate later to your _friends_" He hinted.

*Zero*Zero*

"Is it my imagination, or is Flitwick working us harder than last semester?" Harry commented. He was walking back to the 'Claw dorms with Luna. It was 9:30, and they had JUST gotten out of Remedial Charms. But it had actually been ok. _'Not certain what happened, but Charms is sure a lot more fun when most of the spells work the way they are supposed to'._

"Maybe he is concerned that you aren't ready for the next task" Luna replied, harshing Harry's mellow.

"Thanks for reminding me" Harry sighed, "I might have forgotten to be stressed out of my mind."

"I know a great way to relieve stress" Luna announced, "follow me!" and she walked off with a bounce in her step. Harry walked cautiously after the now-exuberant girl.

"Where are we going?" Harry looked around, He didn't recognize the area, "Is this near the Gryff's dorms?" He stopped, "Look, we'll be late for curfew."

"Don't be silly, we still have plenty of time, And the broom closet is just down that way!" Luna a grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him along.

Harry's head swiveled back and forth, checking to see if there were any witnesses. Like say Draco. '_If Draco sees me with Luna, I'll never live it down'._ Thankfully, the corridor was empty. "Wait, what do you mean, 'broom closet'!?" Harry" brain caught up with what Luna had said, and he dug in his heels, "You aren't… I mean you don't mean.. to you know?" Harry knew what usually happened when a boy and a girl went into a broom closet together. And Crabbe insisted that it was very relaxing...

Luna looked puzzled at Harry, "It's right here." She stepped over to a door off of a little-used side corridor. If building could have alleys, this would be one. She reached over to the door and tapped it with her wand in an odd little rhythm before trying the door knob. She stepped right in.

Despite himself, Harry leaned in, expecting to see.. well, he had no clue what he expected, but it wasn't what was actually in the broom closet. The closet had been expanded, though not terribly well - some of the walls were ten feet apart, others were 20, and the ceiling swooped in crazily in a couple of spots. The whole mess was crammed full of potions equipment, neatly stacked and labeled. Luna carefully threaded her way down the long room to the very back corner.

"What on earth is all this?" Harry asked, flabbergasted.

"This is the Weasley twin's potions lab. How else do you think they make all their little toys?"

"Um… Is this legal?"

Luna just gave Harry an odd look. She took off her shoes and stepped onto a tiny square of threadbare carpet. On the carpet were two stools crammed together and an apparatus made up of an array of glass flasks all attached by tubes. Luna flicked her wand, and a fire appeared under one of the flasks, and the liquid inside started to bubble.

"Right, It's the Weasleys." He was just about to step over to take a closer look at the apparatus when Luna held up her had, "Uh uh uh!" She tisked, "You have to take off your shoes! The Futfodder worms need to be able to get at the toe cheese!" She pointed down at the carpet.

Harry froze "What?" he looked down at the carpet, but he couldn't see anything. '_This is Luna. She wouldn't do anything dangerous'_, Draco insisted that Luna was dangerously insane, but it was just that she saw things differently then everybody else. '_Who knows? Maybe what she sees is right, and everybody else is wrong?'_ Taking a deep breath, Harry took off his shoes and socks and stepped tentatively onto the rug.

"Hey.. It's warm!" the rug was much more plush than it looked, and very pleasant on the feet. The glass apparatus burbled and chuckled, and little streams of liquid ran through the tubes from flask to flask. "What does this do?" Harry asked, peering at the mysterious machine. "And if it's the Weasley's, is it safe to use?"

Luna gave Harry a puzzled look, "It's a coco still, for making hot chocolate. And it's mine. The Weasley twins are letting me borrow the space" Luna took a pair of mugs from a shelf under the apparatus and flipped a stopcock on the side of the still, filling one of them with a rich brown liquid. She handed it to Harry

Harry sat down on the stool, "You know muggles make hot coco in a much less elaborate fashion." He took a sip of his drink, "This is really good!"

"Of course it is. That's why I use a still" Luna filled her cup and sat down on the other stool next to Harry with a sigh. "This is where I go to relax, when the girls are driving me insane. You see, when they lie down in their beds, the the Wrackspurts hiding in their pillows suck out the last iota of common sense out of their little brains, and all that they talk about for the next hour is shoes. Did you know that there are more different kinds of shoes in the world than there are insects? And apparently if your head has been emptied by Wrackspurts, you feel the need to fill it with all sorts of minutia about the newest and most expensive varieties. Or you do if you are a girl, at least." Luna took a sip of her hot coco, "And then they ask questions of you, and expect you to be able to discuss intelligently the relative merits of shoes! Honestly, if Scotland wasn't cold during the winter, I wouldn't even WEAR shoes." she sighed.

Harry nodded, not certain if it was ok to smile at Luna's soliloquy. On the one hand, she looked so despondent, but on the other, it was so absurd! He compromised by turning so that Luna couldn't sea his face, and patting her on the back in sympathy. As he did, she leaned over slightly, so that she was pressing gently on his side. '_Uhm, what do I do now?'_ Harry was lost. this was not anything he had expected. After he finished patting Luna on the back, he decided to leave his hand were it was. His hand was at an awkward angle, but he didn't dare move it, or he might inadvertently draw attention to the fact that it was still on Luna's back.

They sat like that for a while 'We need to get back - curfew is in a couple of minutes," Luna said reluctantly, Scourgify-ing her mug as she stowed it back under the still.

"Yeah. It's really nice of the Weasley's to let you borrow their hideout." Harry stood and stretched, reluctantly putting his shoes back on.

"Oh, it's not for free. I have to… do a few things for them"

Harry paused, "Nothing inappropriate, I hope"

"No. mostly, they want the password to the common room from time to time. Though they did ask me for some of Cho's undergarments once." Luna locked up the broom closet.

"Ok" Harry smirked, "That's good to know."

Luna grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him around, "I told you that in confidence. I don't want you using that to tease them!"

Harry stopped. _'NOT tease them… but… but'_ his brain froze at the odd concept, _'i guess I can pretend I don't know.'_ . "Ok. ok! I'll be good" he held up his hands placatingly. The two teens stood like that. '_She's standing really close'_ Harry realized. Luna was less than a foot away. '_I should say something'_, "You know, you're very pretty." he blurted _'NOT THAT! Where did that come from?'_ Harry fidgeted, and looked ready to bolt.

Luna stepped up onto her tiptoes and kissed the tip of his nose before whirling and grabbing his hand. "Let's go."

The two teens retuned to the common room, holding hands. _'I guess I'm not dating Parvati anymore'_ Harry mused. '_But what if Draco sees me with Luna?'_

*Zero*Zero*

The day of the Second Task was quickly approaching. As a matter of fact, it was just five days away, a fact that Harry was doing his best not to think about. So the core members of 'Team Harry' were having another Skull Session.

"Ok, on Task one, the bubble head charm looks like our best bet. The Transfiguration spells are all WAY too advanced. And if you flub them, you could end up in St. Mungos." Terry had a note in front of him, with the details of his research written in tiny, crabbed script.

"The Gillyweed potion will also work" interrupted Luna, "I can brew some up tomorrow."

Simon held up a pair of dark glasses "I ordered these up from a shop my dad recommended. They're sun glasses: they let you see in the dark as if the sun was out" He handed them Harry, "You owe me 12 Galleons, Potter."

Harry tried them on - they were awkward to fit over his regular glasses. "I guess I can use these, but they really uncomfortable."

"You're going to want eyeglass clips, to make sure that they don't fall off" added Padma, "You can buy those for a couple of knuts."

"The Gillyweed will also improve your swimming speed, because you won't have the air bubble around your head, and your hands and toes become webbed." Added Luna.

"So that brings us to task three" continued Terry. "I found the Invenio spell. It's become obsolete with the invention of the Four Point spell, but I think it will work better under water - it releases a stream of smoke which drifts in the direction that the object you are looking for is. I tried it in the tub, and it created a stream of bubbles."

"No comment about making bubbles in the tub" smirked Simon. Padma smacked the back of his head. But she was smiling as well.

"Ok, that sounds like everything. Thanks guys. You don't know what this means to me." Harry smiled at the others. "I feel much better about the Tournament with you guys helping me."

"Just win the next Task" Terry slapped Harry on the back as he got up.

"Or at least don't suck too bad" added Simon, following his leader.

"Don't die," scowled Padma.

"Thanks guys." Harry deflated, "For bringing me back down." He got up and followed Luna out of the common room. Once they were out in the corridor, he asked "Uhm, Luna, can you brew up the Gillyweed potion?"

She frowned, "I thought you weren't interested."

"Uhm, no, I just.. I wanted to hear what the others had to say. But I think your idea is best."

"Oh, OK!" Luna beamed "I'll get started right away" and she went skipping off.

*Zero*Zero*

The day of the second task, Harry ate breakfast early, before the other students filled the great hall. He was too nervous to socialize. Fortunately, he was also too nervous to sleep. Harry wolfed down some eggs and forced down a piece of toast, remembering what Luna had said the day before _'Can't swim on a full stomach, or I'll cramp up.'_ He checked his robe pocket for the twenty third time. The Gillyweed potion and dinner mint were both there (both from Luna - she said that he was going to need the mint, after)

"Hey. PST! Harry!" Harry was just making his way out of the great hall when a voice from a closed classroom interrupted him.

"Yeah?" He looked around, but there was nobody there. He was just reaching for the door to the classroom when Ginny's head popped out of the adjoining wall.

"Hey, good luck with Luna!" she smiled and pulled back into the wall.

"What?" Harry scratched his head, _'Why am I getting dating advice from a first year girl? A dead one at that?' _Harry continued on his way. He figured he would go down to the lake - the venue for the Second Task - a little early and hang around.

"Harry! Are you all ready?" It was Hermione, in her severe 'Beauxbatons valedictorian' persona, "I've been trying to get a hold of you all week. Please tell me that you figured out the task is under water, and that you have a plan.." Her expression was grim.

"Yeah, I have a plan" Harry smiled.

"Oh, good. I just figured out that the sphere was probably talking in Mermish, but I wasn't able to find you to tell you about it. I was so worried - the only breathing aid I could find on such short notice was some Gillyweed I found yesterday, but it doesn't work that well raw." She rambled, the tension easing out of her posture. She smiled a little sheepishly, as she held up a handful of what looked like watercress wrapped in a sheet of wax paper.

"Oh, yeah, I figured out about the Mermish weeks ago." Harry waived off her anxiety nonchalantly.

Hermione froze. "And you didn't tell me? You've known for weeks? And you didn't give a damn!" Hermione glared at him, her fury barely contained.

"What.." Harry started to speak, when Hermione slapped him and stormed off..

'What on earth was that?' Harry was extremely confused. _'Did somebody slip a potion into her breakfast cereal?'_ Hermione was so much in control that Harry couldn't believe that this had even been the same person. _'Or is it one of those girl 'time of the month things that Draco is always complaining about?'_

Harry made his way to the Champion's tent and changed into his swim trunks. Harry grabbed a towel from a rack off to one side and draped it over his shoulders before sitting down. Time passed. He sat down again when he found himself pacing the inside of the tent.

Time passed.

The tent flap opened and Cedric walked in. "Harry." He smiled, "Thanks for the tip on the egg. It's a real life saver."

Harry sat back down, "What do you mean? If you didn't know, you would fail the task is all, right?"

Cedric shook his head "Not according to what I've read about the Tournament. You have to try, whether you want to or not. It's a compulsion. If not for your warning, I would be out there on the lake, swimming back and forth (or trying to) until the other three Champions returned to shore. That could take hours."

Harry paled, "Whose genius idea was this tournament anyway?"

Cedric sighed, "Yeah, I know."

Krum sat down on the bench next to them, "They haff safety people. They would haff bubble headed you. We not living in 12th century." His English as a little rough, but clear enough. Apparently he was more nervous about this task than the previous. Probably because he couldn't fly his broom under the water.

Fleur just glared at the rest of the Champions and gnawed on a fingernail.

Soon they could hear the sound of people. '_Must be quite a crowd out there' _Harry had seen the stands that had been assembled, almost overnight, but he was surprised that so many people would show up, given that there wouldn't be much to see.

There were several muted announcements from the judging staff, and finally, Crouch's assistant, Percy poked his head into the tent "Ok, It's time."

The four Champions came out and were informed of their task - to retrieve "what they'll sorely miss" from the Merpeople Village in under an hour. Harry quickly chugged his potion as Cedric and Fleur Bubble headed, while Krum partially transfigured into a shark _'Did he mean to do that?'_ Harry knew how hard it was to transform even a willing person. Harry was finding it hard to breath. He patted his neck gently - '_looks like the potions working.'_

He dived in, and and burbled "Invenio", concentrating on the location of the Merpeople village. It took three tries to get the spell to go - casting under water was tricky business! Harry swam for all he was worth. _'There's no way I'm going to match Krum the shark, but second place would be cool'_. The Invenio spell quickly led Harry to the bottom of the lake, where the water was thick and murky. The Sun-glasses did very little to help, and they kept slipping around on Harry's face.

_'Agh! I can't deal with this!'_ Harry dumped them._ 'That's 12 Galleons down the drain' ._ But on the other hand, the webbing on his hands and feet rocked! Harry had never been a good swimmer, but he was really motoring along.

"Invenio" SWISH & poke. The stream of bubbles from his wand was drifting to the left _'I hope that's real, and not just a current pulling that way' _A stream of bubbles rose up from Harry's mouth as he sighed and swam in the new direction.

There was almost nothing to see - the water was murky, and all the plants and things looked exactly the same. _'I hope I'm not going in circles.. "_YIKE!" something had grabbed his foot. Harry lashed out, kicking both feet, but the grip on his ankle was too strong. Harry jackknifed around to see what holding on to him. Grindylows! Harry flailed around, but to no avail, and now a second one had grabbed on. Harry started panic flailing about, but the Grindylow held on, unperturbed.

Harry cast a repulsion charm, but noting happened_ 'Shit! casting under water is hard!'_ The Grindylow grinned - it had a a row sharp, dagger like teeth – and it pulled Harry's leg towards it's mouth. Harry kicked out. He managed to push it away, but the little monster just pulled Harry in closer again.

"repulso" burbled Harry, but all that happened was that his wand started to glow. By the glow, he could see more of the horrid things milling about, waiting for the Harry to get too weak to fight.

"Oww" The Grindylow's fingers were digging deep into his calf. Harry reached down and grabbed a finger wrapped around his leg. He pushed and twisted the way Professor Loew had shown him, the Grindylow eyes got big and it let go with a burst of bubbles. But as it did, another little demon grabbed on in its place. Harry grabbed another appendage, and this time he cranked as hard as he could on the finger. There was sickening pop, and the Grindylow flailed out, swimming away quickly as it cradled its hand. Another other little green monster let go and darted out of reach as Harry made a grab for it.

Harry kicked off, swimming with all his might. The Grindylows watched with a silent malevolence.

Harry kept swimming, but now he was watching for potential attackers as well, _'I hope whatever I have to carry isn't too big'_ Harry's strength was starting to flag as he spied an odd structure. _'The Merpeople Village!' _He put on a burst of speed, swimming by groups of Merfolk who stood by, watching as Harry awkwardly swam by. '_They make swimming look so easy!'_

Harry was exhausted when he reached the town center. there, he found four posts guarded by Merpeople with spears. Tied to them were four humans, all of them limp and unmoving- Cho, a Beauxbatons girl, a kid that looked like Fleur and LUNA!

As Harry swam closer, the Mermen dropped back, to give him room. Harry eyed them cautiously before rushing over to Luna. She had a bubble head charm on - she was alive, but asleep. '_This is going to be a lot harder to swim with than a book or something.'_

Harry let out a deep breath - he had really panicked for a moment _'That was silly - Dumbledore wouldn't let students get hurt!'_

Harry examined how she was tied tied on the pole. Fortunately, the loop of rope holding her was just slipped over the post, because he didn't have a knife. Harry gently pulled up on the rope tied around her waist. And it jammed, half way up. '_Oh, shit!' _Harry pulled the rope back down. The problem was Luna's weight made the rope cock. Harry glanced around, but the only people watching were Merpeople. Harry took hold of Luna by the waist and gently held her tight as he hoisted her up, working the rope off the pole as he went. Once free, he was at a loss - should he leave the other humans down here? But what if the other Champions took too long? But if he waited, he would lose his chance to win. And Harry had never won at anything before. He was ahead of even KRUM!

'_Speak of the devil' _Krum swam into view as Harry debated with himself. That settled it. He put an arm around luna and began to swim. '_This isn't working' _Harry couldn't hold her and swim one handed. He glanced around, and his face lit up , "_I guess I'm not in Ravenclaw for nothing!'_ Harry took the rope off of Luna and engorged it, so that it was long enough to use as a sling. He wrapped it back around luna, and then slipped it over onto his chest.

"_That's better' _Except now… certain _parts_ of Luna kept pressing into his back with each stroke. _'Thank god that nobody can see us.'_ Harry kept swimming. And Luna kept flopping.

As he continued to swim for shore, anxiety began to build in Harry. _'What if her bubblehead charm runs out? They don't last forever, and I've been kind of rough on her, swimming like this..._' He paused, trying to hear if she was breathing. but he didn't hear anything. '_Was she breathing when I found her?' _Harry swam as hard as he could. His gills began to burn from the effort. Finally, he stubbed his toe as the lake bottom swooped up to meet the shore.

Harry stood up with a stagger, taking the rope off as he did. He supported Luna anxiously as several assistants waded out to them and the crowd cheered.

As the wizards helped steady Luna, her eyes fluttered open, "Oh, good. It worked!" she smiled. And as the third assistant draped a robe over Harry, she leaned up and kissed him on the lips.

"BLEARGH! You forgot the dinner mint!"

*Zero*Zero*

Harry slumped onto a bench, exhausted, as Team Harry surrounded him, pounding on his back and cheering. "You're first, Mate!" roared Simon. Harry smiled weakly. He had forgotten to listen to the score again. After the First Task, he had just been happy to be alive, but now…

There was another roar from the crowd as Cedric came up with Cho.

"How am I doing, for points?" He gasped. breathing was still difficult, with the Gillyweed potion in his system.

"You're neck and neck with Krum - he did better in the first task, but he's in third place here. And Cedric choked on the first task, so he's no threat" Terry rattled off.

"What about Fleur?"

"She got hurt in the lake, fighting off the Grindylows, so she had to be sedated. She's automatically in fourth place.

There was more cheering, as Krum Finally managed to swim up. Apparently his stubby fin-like arms had cost him time in freeing his hostage.

"So, Potter, I didn't know you had a thing for Looney." Harry hadn't noticed when Draco had swaggered over. Him and his two henchmen. Terry turned around and without a pause popped Draco in the nose.

"OW!" Draco sat down.

"Hey, what was that for?" Crabbe roared,lunging forward, to be met with Goyle's arm "Hold it, Vince. Draco had it coming. You know that."

"What?" Crabbe turned, befuddled.

"Draco was being a dick. You know it was just a matter of time before it caught up with him."

Draco stood up and glared at everybody, a handkerchief to his bleeding nose. "You're a dead man, Boots," he hissed, and stomped off. Goyle cast a backwards glance at Harry and his friends before shaking his head ruefully and following Draco. "Wait up!"

"Uhm, you want to come to martial arts class with me next week?" Harry asked.

Terry shook his head, "So, what was up with you and Luna?"

Harry glanced over to where Luna was getting checked out by the school nurse, "Nothing's going on. Luna was just excited to be safe and sound, I guess.

*Zero*Zero*

The rest of the morning was a well organized mess. The Daily Prophet wanted an interview, which he stuttered and stumbled through. Collin Creavy took a photo, then there was the official announcements from the judges. By the time it was all done, it was lunch time.

Harry sat down with a sigh at his usual spot at the Ravenclaw table. Terry and Simon weren't there _'They probably finished already. They didn't have to deal with that Bagman slapping their back while rambling on about useless stuff from when HE was my age._' Harry dug in. Swimming was hard work, even with the assist from the Gillyweed, and he was starved.

"Harry, do you want to buy an Omnocular of your Task?" Collin asked, holding up what looked like weird set of binoculars.

"What now?" Harry asked around a mouth full of chicken.

"I recorded you doing the Second Task on my Omnoculars, and I wanted to know if you wanted a copy."

"You mean people were able to see me?" Harry asked, surprised, _'Did I do anything embarrassing? I hope I didn't put my hands anywhere inappropriate on Luna.'_

"Of course people could see you. Why would they bother coming otherwise? They were renting Omnoculars down at the lakeside, though those didn't have the recording capability." Collin leaned over and offered Harry a look into his Omnoculars.

"Oh." Harry took a sip of his pumpkin juice, "No, I'll pass. I was there, after all. Are you still doing the SPEW stuff?"

"No, SPEW is pretty much dead - Hannah is spending all her time with her boyfriend, I'm Persona Non Grata, and you are… you."

"Yeah. What was up with selling that photo to the Prophet - that really pissed off Parvati."

Collin shrugged and looked sheepish, "I thought that showing House Elves being upset would get them treated better. You know, like how you only pay attention to your parents when they are yelling at you. I guess it didn't work out quite like I'd hoped. But at least the money was nice. So why are you so concerned about Parvati? Are you guys still dating?"

"I don't know. Maybe?" Harry shrugged.

"Well, you better figure it out fast. Incoming!" Collin jerked his head towards the girl in question - she was coming towards Harry, and she looked annoyed. Collin grabbed his Omnoculars and power walked away.

"Hey, Harry. So did you announce that the House Elves didn't attack us?" She stopped in front of Harry and stood with her arms crossed.

"Uhm, no?" Harry had completely forgotten about her request.

"I didn't think so!" Parvati flipped her hair, "You never remember anything I ask of you. You're always ignoring me. And what's the deal with Luna?"

"What about Luna?" Harry hunched in on himself, trying to disappear.

"Why were you kissing Luna?"

"I wasn't kissing Luna. Luna kissed me. Once. Probably because we won, or something." Harry had sunk so far down that he could almost rest his chin on the table. _'I wish I had an invisibility cloak.'_

Parvati glared at Harry some more. She opened her mouth to say something, but then thought better of it, walking off with a flounce.

'_Thank Merlin that's over' _Harry sat up straighter. He looked to see if anybody had overheard, but it was late enough so the Great Hall was mostly empty. But just in case, he wolfed down the rest of his meal and made tracks to the 'Claw Common room.

*Zero*Zero*

The next morning, Hogwarts returned to normal. Harry was finishing up breakfast, getting ready to go to Foreign Runes when there was a ruckus at the Gryffindor table. Harry looked over in time to see the Irish kid, Seamus, pull a bra out of Ron Weasley's robe pocket.

"What? That's not mine!" Ron protested, to the roar of laughter and back slapping. Ron backpedaled away from the offending garment, his face as red as his hair. One of his friends held up the garment to Ron's chest, to see if it was the right size, apparently.

Ron slapped it away and fled, as professor McGonagall descended like a black cloud on the Gryffindor table. Harry watched in amusement, but he had to get to class. He took a last bite of toast and grabbed his books.

*Zero*Zero*

"Oh man, I'll never hear the end of this" Ron moaned as Harry sat down next to him in Foreign Runes. Harry nodded in amusement. But some of the other students in the class didn't think it was funny. Hermione spent the whole class glaring daggers at Ron, as did most of the other girls. Even some of the boys gave him disappointed looks. As class came to an end Ron muttered "So much for my chances of getting a date."

Harry paused as he was collecting his papers, "Oh, who do you fancy?"

"Not like that - I mean in general. Did you see the looks all the girls in class were giving me? The crazy French genius I can understand - she hates everything British and thinks I'm thick as a board to boot, but even the Gryff girls..."

"Well, you could ask out the girl whose bra was in your pocket.." Harry smirked.

"I had nothing to do with that! I don't even know whose it is. And if my mother hears about this, I'm going to be grounded for life," moaned Ron.

Harry shook his head and took pity on the red head, "Yeah, I know. It's the twins."

"How do you know? Not that blaming the twins is a bad guess - they're responsible for half the mayhem in the school."

"Same way that I know that the bra is Cho's" Harry replied. "I have my sources."

"What were the twins doing with Cho's undergarments?" Ron boggled.

"That's a very good question. Maybe you should ask Cedric that…" Harry smirked.

Slowly, an evil smile spread across Ron's face "I'll see you in Self Defense!" He bounded out of the classroom.

*Zero*Zero*

Harry waited with baited breath to see the results of Ron's revenge, but nothing came of it. Or maybe he just missed it. His life was getting complicated. On the one hand, he enjoyed hanging out with Luna, on the other, she was social cyanide - as the pariah of Hogwarts, he didn't want to be seen with her. And of course, he couldn't just TELL her. That would hurt her feelings. And then there was Parvati, who thought… what? '_Who knows what Parvati is thinking. She's harder to figure out than Luna, and Luna is insane!'_

Harry was double checking his potions homework in the Ravenclaw common room '_And that's another nuisance - why does Snape want me and Ernie to switch how we make potions? We've done it this way for three years, and it works for us! I chop, Ernie mixes.' _Harry glanced up nervously as heard somebody approaching his study carrel. _'Not Luna.'_

"Harry, what's going on with you and Parvati?" Padma sat down on the chair opposite him.

Harry groaned '_not this again!'_ "Why am I getting the third degree from all the girls? It wasn't that big a deal!"

Padma glared at Harry, "Because she's my sister, you moron, and because it WAS that big a deal for Parvati, and because of this." She tossed a copy of the Daily Prophet onto the table, turned to the Society & Life section. "Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived and the Fourth TriWizard Champion toying with young girls hearts!" screamed the headline. Harry's mind froze. He skimmed the article.

"This makes me out to be some fame seeking gigolo!" he stammered.

"Well, are you?" Asked Padma.

"I thought you were part of Team Harry?" Whined the Boy-Who-Needed-a-Spine.

"That's because Terry is. It has nothing to do with you." Padma retorted shortly. "So. Spill."

"The article is complete nonsense! You know that. You know I hate having people call me Boy Who lived, and when was the last time you saw me seeking out the limelight."

"Well, you're there now."

"Not on purpose! If didn't have to do this Triwizard Tournament, I wouldn't! As to Parvati… I don't know! I don't think we're dating anymore, but I'm not dating Luna or anybody else either!"

Padma look at Harry consideringly, and then nodded, "very well. But you need to tell this to Parvati in person. She still thinks your going out."

"I guess."

"No 'I guess'. Do it by dinnertime, or I'll drag you over to the Gryffindor's table so you can do it then." Padma continued to sit and glare at Harry. Harry slowly got the message and collected his stuff. "Ah, I'll be back."

*Zero*Zero*

Harry shambled towards the Gryffindor Common room, his hands in his pockets, his head pointed squarely at his toes when he walked squarely into Luna.

"Harry? Are you looking for Nargles?"

"What, no. I'm on my way to tell Parvati that we aren't dating anymore."

"Oh, goody!" Luna chirped and bounced, "Can I come too?"

"What? No! I think that will be a very bad idea." Harry replied, horrified.

"But why not? From all the articles I have read, a girl should support her boyfriend in all his endeavors, and I think it will do an admirable job of demonstrating her deficiency at this task, by way of comparison with me."

"No, you supporting me as I break up with Parvati will NOT send that message," Harry hyperventilated, _'oh god, that would be a complete disaster!'_, " and besides you're not my girlfriend. Officially."

"Oh, that's easy enough to fix" Luna smiled.

"Uh, We'll talk later" Harry rushed off,_ 'I got to get this done before… before I lose my nerve!.'_

Harry thankfully made it to the portrait of the Fat Lady without anymore misadventures, and after an interminable wait, was allowed in. Looking around the Common room, there was no Parvati. '_Oh. I think she has DADA right now_' Harry stood there, at a loss. _ 'If I go back, Padma is going to ream me a new one, and then she's going to make me do this in public. But my class schedule doesn't match up with Parvati's today!'_ As he stood there, quietly panicking, he saw the Weasley twins walking grim faced towards the door. They were both wearing dark glasses. "Uh, hey, what's with the glasses?"

"They're from a discussion we had with Cho" said the one on the right. "Did you know that girl knows how to punch?" added the one on the left, "And her aim is pretty good too." He lifted up his glasses to show a burgeoning black eye.

"But why do both of you have glasses? Did she get you both?" Harry asked, confused.

"No" replied Lefty.

"But as a sign of moral support for my twin," continued Righty.

"I am wearing a pair as well." The twins alternated speaking. "Besides, it's an identifying mark, and we can't have that, now can we?"

"Now, if you will excuse us, we have some matters to discuss with Miss Ratty Lovegood."

'_Oh, right. As far as the twins know, she's the one who told Ron...'_ A cold stone settled into the pit of Harry's stomach. The twins had a mean streak, and what they would do to poor Luna... "Uhm, guys? I don't know what you're planning, but its not a good idea."

"Harry, my boy," Righty put his arm around Harry's shoulders, "Our ideas are NEVER good ideas..."

"They're WONDERFUL ideas!" finished the other twin. "But in this case its a simple business proposition. In exchange for services rendered" the twin pointed to the black eye "We would like her to try out a few of our newest creations."

"Like these Loon-a-tacks" the twin held up a small box of pins.

"Each one is guaranteed to turn anybody stabbed into a goose."

"Uhm…" Harry thought _'That's not so bad. I thought they were going to beat her up or something.'_ As the twins walked out of the common room, Harry found himself walking with them. They were going to the same place after all.

The twins bantered as they walked, glancing oddly at Harry along the way. Finally, they paused, "Harry, is everything ok? You seem down at the gills."

"And you don't have gills anymore."

"Did we tell you how cool that was? We're planning to introduce a gag based on you, the Potter-fish."

"Uhm, thanks, but guys…" Harry's voice trailed off, "It's not Luna's fault. She accidentally mentioned it to me, but warned me not to tell anybodyButThenIRanMyMouth and told Ron!"

"So you spend a lot of time with Luna?" Asked a twin.

"Uhm, I guess" Harry replied anxiously, "I think she thinks we're dating."

"Oh"

"Boy! Harry's dating Luna. So the rumors ARE true. That's pretty juicy gossip. It's worth its weight in gold!"

Harry's face lit up, _'Maybe Luna won't find out that I screwed up_' "So does that mean that Luna is off the hook? You're not going to do anything to her?"

"Of course not" beamed the first twin. "not after hearing that.'

STAB

Harry felt a sharp pain in his rear.

"HONK!"

"But you on the other hand, are fair game."

"No, he's a goose." The other twin argued.

"Yes, but geese are considered game in England."

"Are you certain? Because Harry has always been a goose, but he wasn't fair game until just now."

"HONK" Goose-Harry fluttered up to the ceiling and caromed down the corridor, leaving the twins to argue.

*Zero*Zero*

Harry staggered down to the great Hall. His rear end still hurt from where the twins had goosed him, but at least he was back to human. His head still felt a little muzzy from the after affects of the Transfiguration. '_Did I spend all afternoon as a goose? It looks like they are serving dinner.'_

Harry had just stumbled over to the Ravenclaw table and (gently) sat down when Parvati stormed over.

"Um, Hi?" Harry looked up. The Gryffindor girl didn't say anything, instead she walked up and dumped a glass of pumpkin juice on Harry's head and walked off.

"What… What was that for?" Harry asked. He was too exhausted to be angry. He just looked around in confusion.

Terry and Simon shared a look, before Terry took out a Team Harry button and tapped it with his wand. The Team Harry Logo disappeared, to be replaced by a picture of Luna kissing Harry at the end of the second task , with a caption that scrolled underneath 'Luna and Harry - True Love Forever' "Fred and George have been handing out these 'Updated' badges all afternoon. They said that you asked for them, as a memento of the special day."

Harry dropped his face into his hands "Oh, me head hurts."

"You mean this wasn't your idea? asked Simon.

Before Harry could answer, Luna swooped into the seat next to Harry "That was really sweet, Harry!" She pulled him into an awkward hug that resulted in mashing Harry's face into her chest.


	8. Chapter 8

The weeks after the second task was sheer hell. All the Gryffindors (and half the girls from the other houses) were steamed about how callously Harry had 'dumped' Parvati. Which made the comments about him dating Luna all the more barbed.

Harry sat down at the back of the classroom for Foreign Runes and sulked, '_After three years of keeping a low profile, avoiding the bullies, not getting yelled at, not doing anything to draw attention, I get this. A stupid tournament that I am getting blamed for entering, and a stupid girl I get blamed for dumping, and I get blamed for Luna being Luna.' _

Ron sat down next to him, "Dude, I know Parvati is a tool, but what you did to her was uncool."

Harry glanced up - Professor Loew was still writing something on the blackboard before class started, "I didn't do it! It was the twins - I told them that I told you that it was them that stole the, you know."

Ron's eyes glazed over as he slowly parsed what Harry had said, "Right. I can see that, but why on earth were you stupid enough to admit something like that to the twins? I know the rest of the school thinks they are funny, but if you cross them, they are vicious!"

Harry hung his head, "because they thought Luna had told you, and I didn't want them hurting her."

Ron took a good look at Harry, "You know, you're ok."

*Zero*Zero*

Later that day, as Harry and Ron lined up for Self Defense, Professor Loew came in with Terry. "Students, Mr. Boots will be joining the class, so we will start with a review before moving on to your material." The first half of the class was fairly boring exercises, but at least Harry got a workout.

But finally Harry and Ron split off to practice locks and takedowns as Adam continued working with Terry. "So, I think it's pretty obvious why I am here" started Harry, "But how come you signed up for Self Defense? All the other Purebloods that I've talked to think it's silly." He punched slowly at Ron.

Ron stepped in, brushing the punch aside with his left hand and popped Harry gently in the stomach. Then he grabbed Harry's (still extended) right hand and lifted it up as he shoved Harry's head down with his other hand.

Harry spun down to the floor.

"It's funny you should ask. Professor Lupin was just here last week asking about this. Well, sort of. You probably never heard about what happened last year, around finals time… an escaped convict kidnapped me and dragged me off to the Shrieking Shack."

"Was it that guy Sirius Black who was in the news all last year?"

"Yeah, I think so. I thought I was going to be killed, or worse, but all he did was take Scabbers, my pet rat, and blast it's head off. Then he cackled madly and ran off. I was left lying there, petrified, for hours, until the spell wore off. I hated how I wasn't able to do anything to stop the psycho. So I vowed that I would learn as much fighting as I could. Whether It's magic in DADA, or here, it doesn't matter to me. I just want to be able to defend myself and my family."

Harry nodded as he stepped in past Ron's punch so that they were side by side, and he elbowed him in the chest as he kneed him in the back of the thigh. Ron flipped over Harry's leg.

"Oy! take it easy!" Ron got off the floor, "We aren't supposed to hurt each other in here."

"Sorry" Harry replied, contrite. Though it was cool that he could throw around somebody as tall as Ron so easily, _'This summer, I'll have a little surprise for Dudders...'_

"Oh," Ron muttered, looking a little embarrassed, "could you keep what I told you to yourself? If mum finds out, especially after what happened to Ginny, then my parents would probably pull me out of Hogwarts."

"Yeah. Ok." Harry thought for moment, "and thanks for trusting me." After helping Ron up, he asked, "So why was Professor Lupin interested in this? He didn't seem like the sort that would be interested in weird stuff." Harry's memory of Lupin was that he was a dowdy, scholarly sort. Him and McGonagall were the two most normal teachers in the whole school.

"I don't know. Maybe he's secretly related to the Lovegoods on his mother's side?" Ron shrugged and came in for the next attack.

*Zero*Zero*

Harry and Luna sat eating dinner. It was a painful process - Harry could feel the eyes of all the other students on him, and it felt like their gaze was pressing down on him, squashing him like a bug.

"And so Daddy decided to set the Snorkack trap in the tree. But apparently, we used the wrong kind of butter, because we didn't get a single photo of a Snorkack."

Harry was half listening, and half glancing around like a cornered animal, "Why would you get a photo from a Snorkack trap? Wouldn't you get a Snorkack from a Snorkack trap?"

"It's a photo trap, silly. We don't want to hurt the poor things, after all. They are endangered." Luna blithely spread some butter on a piece of bread before giving it to Harry, "And that is why we have a tub of leftover Snorkack butter. Here, try it."

Harry skeptically took a nibble. "It's not bad.. Taste a bit like almonds. What's in there?"

"It's a secret Lovegood recipe. If we just gave it away, then everybody would be able to catch Snorkacks."

"But you said it didn't work."

"This time. But you never know, maybe next time it will." Luna took a dainty bite of her ratatouille. "You know, you should just ignore them."

"Who? the Snorkacks?"

"Yes, them too, but no, I meant the dirty looks." She nodded toward the other students, "Worrying about it doesn't help anything."

"Is that what you do?"

"Um-hmm" She replied, slurping up the rest of her tomato sauce through a straw that she had produced from somewhere.

"And has that worked well for you?"

"Pretty much," she nodded. "I'm happy, they're happy, and my socks are booby trapped."

Harry quirked an eyebrow, "If it was me, I wouldn't be happy if somebody had booby trapped my socks."

"Oh, that was last year, silly. This year, I booby trap them myself, proactively."

"So nobody dares mess with Luna Lovegood's socks." Harry finished.

"Darn tootin'!" Luna beamed.

Harry glanced up at the other students. They seemed to be ignoring him and Luna now. Maybe the novelty had worn off. After all, Goyle was dating Hannah and the Hufflepuffs weren't giving them any trouble. Though Goyle could probably turn them all into 'Puff paste, which helped. Harry took a deep breath and prepared himself, "Luna, um would you like to go to Hogsmead this weekend? I mean, with me"

Luna nodded, "Yes!"

*Zero*Zero*

Harry and Luna walked through Hogsmead side by side. _'This is not so bad'_ Harry was starting to relax. So far nobody had commented on him and Luna. Terry looked bemused, but neither he nor the rest of of Team Harry had said anything to his face, and Harry hadn't dared to ask if they were laughing at him behind his back. And oddly enough, Draco hadn't said anything either. but that might have been because he had been avoiding Draco all week.

"So, where do you want to go?" asked Harry, nervously, _'Please don't say Madam Puddifoot's. Please don't say Madam Puddifoot's'_ He crossed his finger on (on his free hand) behind his back.

"We went to all the places I thought you would like on our first date to Hogwarts, so this time, lets go to the places I like" Luna smiled.

'_NOOOOO!' _Harry wailed internally, "Wait.. first date? I thought this WAS our first date."

"Silly" Luna patted Harry's captive hand with her free one, "You need to pay more attention."

Harry realized something: _'Um, how long have we been holding hands?'_Not that he minded, really. He darted a glance at Luna_, 'She is very pretty when she smiles.'_ He was still processing that thought as Luna led Harry down a little path off to the side of the main village and up into a small field of snow flowers.

"This," Luna released his hand and spun, "Is my favorite place in all of Hogsmead." She sat down on a small rock and poked a flower with her wand, causing it to wiggle.

Harry sat down with relief, '_Right this is Luna, not Parvati or one of __those__ girls.'_

The two teens sat and talked. "You know, these flowers make it seem like its already spring."

"That's why I like this field so much" Luna cast a charm to turn the white flowers to a cyan blue. The teens spent the afternoon casting color charms on the snow flowers., which somehow led to a snowball fight.

"At least you're properly dressed this time." cleaning the snow out of his collar, Harry recalled the sun-dress that Luna wore last time she had dragged him to Hogsmead. Thinking about clothing and such, Harry recalled something Luna had mentioned at the beginning of the year. "Do you really have a chastity belt under your bed?"

"No."

"Oh, that makes.."

"It's not under my bed anymore. I decided that given that we were dating, it would be appropriate for me to wear it. Want to see?" Luna started to hike up her skirt.

"Gah! Stop" Harry waived his hand in agitated denial. He jumped off the rock and said, "maybe we should head back"

*Zero*Zero*

The two teens were just coming back into Hogsmead proper when a voice called out, "Hey, Potter, if she's Looney, what does that make you?" It was Crabbe, and he was walking with Draco.

Harry took a step away from Luna, "Uh, hi, guys. What are you doing?"

"Normal stuff, what about you? You doing Looney… stuff?" Draco asked. Crabbe chortled.

"Hey," Harry colored, "What are.. I mean we were just.."

"Walking in a field" Luna finished "You should try it, It's much more romantic than Madam Puddifoot's."

"What, why would we go there?" sputtered Draco.

"Aren't you a couple?" Asked Luna airily.

Crabbe blanched, and sputtered denials, but Draco took a step forward, "look here, you little freak-tard!" He growled, shaking his fist at Luna, "I don't care about your little airs and pretensions, I am tired of your little insults disguised as unworldly comments" He continued, ranting. Luna's eyes got big and she took a step backwards.

Harry stopped listening after Draco said "freak". Something had just snapped. All the built up anger at the little slights from these two that he had ignored for years with a smile and a shrug all coalesced around that word. 'Freak'. It was a special word. Petunia used it to show that he wasn't her son. Vernon said it, and shook his fist at him, to let him know how much he hated Harry. Dudley called him that, just for fun, to let Harry know that he was powerless..

**thup**

"Uhh"

Draco sat down hard, holding his stomach. His eyes were real big, and he was gasping small breaths.. "Don't call people freak" Hissed Harry as Draco tried to catch his breath.

"Hey, what do you think.." Crabbe took a step forward, reaching to grab Harry's collar.

Harry ducked under the arm, grabbed it, spun and twisted.

THUMP

Crabbe hit the ground hard. Luckily for him, Harry had let go of his arm, so that it didn't tear the shoulder.

"Don't move, Dudley. You even think of touching me again, and I will break every bone in your body." Harry growled in cold fury.

"My name's not Dudley" Vincent replied weakly from the ground.

Harry didn't hear him. Luna gently took his arm and pulled, "Harry, let's go. There is nothing more to accomplish here."

*Zero*Zero*

Harry found himself in the dojo, ready for his daily practice session. He wasn't exactly certain where the rest of the day went. It was all kind of vague after the confrontation with Draco.

"Hey, Harry" Ron walked in, "I hear you popped Draco one." he said approvingly .

"Where did you hear that?" Harry's stomach was roiling, _'If Dumbledore hears that I've been fighting, I'll get expelled!'_

"Luna has been telling everybody that you stood up for her when Draco was bullying her. I know that you used to be friends with him, but you did right."

Harry put his head into his hands, "That girl is going to get me into so much trouble!"

Ron opened his mouth to say something, to reassure Harry, but he couldn't really think of anything. Deep thoughts had never had been one of Ron's strengths. "Let's do some katas"

*Zero*Zero*

"Hey, Draco…" Harry walked up to his Slytherin friend as he walked down to dinner.

"Get away from me," Draco backed up, defensively, "And don't use any of your muggle arts on me!" He walked away quickly, almost running.

'_Great. Now the crazy girl has cost me my only friend.'_

*Zero*Zero*

It was the following day, as Harry slowly mixed the potion, 'three turns clockwise, one counterclockwise, then repeat for 72 stirs' when Snape walked over. As he stood, looming behind Harry, Harry's shoulder's slowly crept up towards his ears.

"Potter. See me after class"

Harry nodded _'Oh, shit. I'm in trouble.' _He glanced down at his potion, '_was that 34 or 35?'_

Later, after bringing up his potion (which was the wrong color - he must have been on 35) he turned to Snape. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes. I heard about your altercation with mister Malfoy yesterday. I know that the other professors have a 'boys will be boys' attitude, but I will NOT tolerate any bullying or fighting. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir." Harry answered in a whisper.

"If you have any problems with Mr. Malfoy in the future, I expect you to bring them to me, and I will deal with them. In the meantime, I will expect to see you here after dinner for the rest of this week to scour the cauldrons. Thoroughly."

Harry didn't get back to his dorm until well after curfew for the rest of the week.

*Zero*Zero*

The following week, Harry did his best to avoid Luna, which was doable, since they were in different years. And whenever he wasn't in class, he hid up in the boys dorms or at the dojo. He also avoided Draco and pretty much everybody else, because at this point, it felt like Hogwarts was a maelstrom of rumors, all about him. _'Why does she have to be so Luna?'_ Harry kind of missed spending time with Luna, but there was no way that he was going to be laughed at like that.

He wolfed his meals and fled the great halls as soon as he could, and avoided the Ravenclaw common room.

The only person that he saw regularly were Ron and Professor Loew, down at the dojo (Terry had dropped martial arts after the first week). The red-head gave him his space, and surprisingly, the large professor didn't say anything about the incident either. Perhaps he had not heard about it.

The week dragged on into a month. It was late March when Ludo Bagman called all the champions together.

"Well, the time for the third task is quickly approaching", he announced with artificial good cheer, "We will be announcing it to the whole school this evening, but I wanted the champions to have a heads up. This task will be a race through a maze that we are setting up in the quidditch pitch. You will have to circumvent assorted obstacles that are being installed by the professors." He slapped Cedric on the back, "So just think of what your professors are fond off. That's as much of a clue as I can give you! Ha, Ha, Ha." He laughed artificially.

Harry released a breath he hadn't been aware that he was holding _'A race. A race I can do. Even if I don't win, what's the worst that can happen?'_ Harry looked at the other Champions, They didn't look so tough: they might know more charms than him, but the only athlete in the bunch was Krum. _ 'And if I do win… maybe people will like me again.'_

That evening, Harry stayed at dinner to hear the official announcement of the third task. Which is why Hermione was able to sit down next to him, "What's going on with you, Potter?" She started, "You two time on Parvati, and then you ditch Luna. Are you with some other girl now?"

"What? NO!" Harry recoiled. He glanced around the room - they were attracting a few curious looks, "And keep your voice down!"

"Why should I keep my voice down? ARE you doing something you shouldn't?"

"No. I'm not. And I'm not running around on Parvati or Luna or anything" Harry hissed, "The whole thing with Luna was a prank by the Weasley Twins. I had nothing to do with it." Though a quite voice in the back of his head reminded him about the Hogsmead weekend. And the fact that he had quite enjoyed it. Harry made a point to ignore it - it was probably just his conscience.

"Well" Scowled Hermione, "You hurt both girls feelings, by leading on Luna and and not being honest with Parvati" She sighed, and her expression softened, "Maybe if you apologize and explain the situation, Parvati will take you back."

"No!" Harry whispered vehemently, "I don't want to go out with her. I'm not interested in either of them."

"Oh?" perked up Hermione. After a moment, she asked hesitantly, looking at her nails, "is there somebody you are interested in?"

Harry opened his mouth to reply when Luna sat down on Harry's other side, "I hope the transfiguration wasn't too painful" She said mournfully.

"What are you talking about?"

"The ghosts said that Snape was using you to clean the cauldrons. And I know how unpleasant being a wire-brush is. You should see some of the things I've down with mine. Why, I used it once to clean the loo in the girls dorms, but that was before I knew that the brush could have feelings too." Luna sobbed.

Harry frowned in confusion. _'She's nuttier than squirrel shit.'_

At the same time, a light dawned on Hermione and she snorted and quickly covered her face with her napkin to hide her laugh 'Excuse me, please" She quickly fled so as to avoid laughing at the poor girl.

'_What do I do?'_ Harry looked around. people were giving him looks, _'They think I did something to upset Luna.'_ he tentatively put an arm out and patted the blond girl on the back. Luna calmed down , hiccuping a little, and gave him a hug. _'Was she worried about me?'_ Now it was Harry's turn to feel like a complete heel, "Um, Luna, I wasn't.." His confession was interrupted by Ludo calling out "May I have your attention" And then proceeding to give a long winded , overly exuberant description of the third task that would have done a cheerleader proud. Harry glanced around. Nobody was paying any attention to him as Ludo talked. So he left his arm around Luna and pulled her in a little closer.

"The entire quidditch pitch will be magically expanded and filled with challenges for our brave champions" blah blah blah "Mediwizards will be standing by, in the unexpected case that one of the Champions is slightly injured. Of course, the tournament has been designed to be as safe as possible" blah blah blah. "Your goal is the Goblet of Fire itself. The first person to… " blah blah blah. '_Man, that old bag of wind sure likes the sound of his own voice'_. Harry missed most of what Ludo had to say, His stomach was roiling as he tried to see if anybody was paying any attention to how close Luna was sitting to him. Or the fact that her head was resting on his shoulder.

*Zero*Zero*

That same night, Harry snuck into the Herbology greenhouse. _'I know prof Sprout keep some emergency Herbicide here somewhere.'_ Harry rummaged through the teachers supply closet. '_Ah. Here it is!'_ He triumphantly held up a small vial of vile purple liquid. Prof. Sprout kept it handy in case there was an accident with one of the plants.

Harry was just about to close the closet and leave when he paused, and put a stack of sickles where the herbicide used to be. '_I hope that covers the cost.'_

*Zero*Zero*

The rest of the semester was so busy that Harry felt that his head would explode. As a professional slacker, he had never worked this hard in his life. First he had his regular classes, then Remedial Charms tutoring with Flitwick, then training in the dojo, then down to the library, cramming anything related to mazes and booby-traps. And hanging out with Luna, either at the library or after dinner. Ideally when nobody else was around.

Harry staggered out of the library one fine day in april (Or so Luna had said. Harry hadn't made it outdoors yet), _'The professors wouldn't put a strangler vine in the maze, would they? That could kill somebody'_. He dropped his book bag in the dojo and pulled on his gi just as Professor Loew came in.

"You look tired Harry. Are you up for this?"

"Yeah. I've been sitting on my bum all day. I need to work off some energy" Harry bowed and took up a sparring position. The last couple of weeks, they had started to concentrate more on sparring and less on forms.

"Uff"

"Looks like you are sitting on your bum again, Potter" Adam rumbled with a smile, "You need to smooth out your motions, flow more. Don't pause and wind up. Small quick circular motions."

Harry got up off the floor, "Yeah, but I'm a small guy. I got to hit hard to take down somebody like you."

"If you hit your target" Loew pointed to different nerve clusters on Harry's body, "then the small blows will do a surprising amount. And if you don't, they will confuse your opponent long enough for you to line up a knockout shot" Adam go back into a fighting stance, "And also, don't judge yourself by me. I have been fighting for over 400 years."

'_That, and you're built like a brick out-house with gorilla ams'_ But tactfully, he didn't say that. "I didn't know wizards lived that long!"

Thump. "Don't get distracted" Adam helped Harry get back up, "And I have already explained, I am not a wizard. Lets work on take-downs, since you are falling down a lot today already."

*Zero*Zero*

"Impedimenta"

Harry dropped onto his back to avoid the jinx and then scissor kicked to fling himself back upright. His books went flying everywhere as he pulled out his wand and yelled "Protego".

"Very good Harry". Professor Flitwick approached the glowing blue shield in front of Harry and tapped it with his finger. "Why don't you collect your books and we can get started on your tutoring." The tiny teacher motioned for Harry to come the rest of the way into the classroom.

"Professor, would it be too much to ask to wait until I put my books down before starting?"

"Uhm, yes, it would be." Flitwick smiled, "I wanted to see how well you were able to cast a spell when surprised. Though I must say your initial reaction was somewhat unexpected."

"Oh. ok" Harry wasn't certain if he was still getting 'remedial' tutoring or if Flitwick had switched to teaching him advanced material, but he didn't want to ask - he was afraid that Flitwick would realize that he wasn't supposed to be giving him this much training and stop. and Harry wanted every single advantage he could get. He had no problem with cheating at the Triwizard tournament, if it kept him from getting killed.

"Today, we will be working on the Patronus charm. Did you do your homework?"

"Yes, sir, but I couldn't think of anything really good." The homework had been to think of a happy thought.

"Well, some people have a hard time finding the happiness in life. They worry too much, or they always see the grey cloud attached to the silver lining. But that is ok. If you can't find a happy thought, we can make one. It is a skill, like any other." Flitwick sat down on a desk and motioned for Harry to have a seat. "Think of something that was a good moment in your life. Do you have anything?"

Harry nodded, "When I helped a friend" He was thinking of how he had felt when he had punched Draco for teasing Luna. The raw sense of power he had had. But that thought was also laced with guilt, over hurting Draco, over acting like a bully himself.

"You don't have to tell me what your thought is, but I would like you to look at the good that you did at that moment. How did your friend feel. Did it make them happy?"

Harry remembered the expression on Luna's face. How it had changed from fear of Draco to… something else. She had kept looking at him, and holding his arm. And afterwards, all her talking it up..."Uhm, yeah, I guess?"

"And you - was what you did easy for you?"

"Yeah. surprisingly. I thought it would be much harder. But I am worried..."

"Don't worry. All of our actions have unintended consequences, and we do have to deal with them. But think of that one tiny instant. Not what came before, not what came after. That was happiness. Now cast."

"Expecto Patronus"

A golden mist sprayed out from the tip of Harry wand, but instead of falling to the floor, it stayed up, hanging in the air.

"Very good. Lets work on your wand swishes, and then we will come back to this at the end of class"

*Zero*Zero*

Finally, the big day arrived. Harry's stomach was roiling, and that windbag Ludo was saying something.

"Harry, you need to eat something." Luna held up a piece of toast. She was seated at his right side as he sat staring at his breakfast.

"She's right - you will need the calories," Terry added from his other side. He was wearing his 'Team Harry' button, as were a surprising number of Ravenclaws.

One of the Weasley twins approached. He was also wearing a button, "Can't keep your food down because of the pre-game jitters?" he pulled out a small vial, "My talented brother and I came up with a potion for that. It will sooth your stomach and your soul"

Harry recoiled at the idea of voluntarily eating anything that the Terror Twins had produced.

"Fred, he doesn't need to 'sooth his soul' He needs to keep his edge so he can compete!" Terry growled.

"I'm George"

"No, you're not. I'm in Ravenclaw for a reason, dufus. Now go away."

"And now, all the Champions should proceed to the quidditch pitch, or should I say, the Maze of Amazement!" Bagman wound up his pitch.

"Ok, show time!" Terry gave Harry a slap on the back.

Luna quickly leaned in and gave Harry a peck on the cheek, "He's right."

"Ok. Let's see how bad it looks."

As they were walking out of the hall, Harry spotted some first years playing exploding snap. "Hey, can I buy that deck from you? He pulled out a hand full of sickles – more than the deck was worth new.

The boys nodded, looking half star-struck, half greedy.

Harry quickly cast Confundo on the deck and gently slipped it into his pocket.

*Zero*Zero*

Harry walked out of the castle to the quidditch pitch, accompanied by Terry and Luna. Ron and Neville joined them on the way out.

"Ok, this is bad."

In front of him was a huge maze of dark thorny brambles. The bushes were so dense you couldn't see through them, and the brambles seemed to be moving, with thorny vines shifting and coiling about themselves. The walls reached up ten feet at least, and they seemed to darken the day by their very presence.

"You can do this, Harry" Neville said from his side. Harry nodded grimly.

The stands around the pitch were crammed full of students and visitors. The Champion's starting line was just up ahead, and the other Champions were already there, with some well wishers standing a few feet back.

"Oy, Potter" Draco called out as he and his two beefy sidekicks walked up. Ron scowled, and clenched his fists. Draco held out his hand and gave Harry a firm shake. "Now you're in for it, Potter." He leaned in and whispered, "Your ass is toast" he slapped Harry's back with false comradery.

"Yeah, where do you want us to have them send your remains?" cackled Crabbe.

Goyle punched Vincent in the arm, "You don't have to win, Potter. Just stay alive in there."

"Thanks." Harry made his way down the final few feet to the starting line.'_I can do this. I don't have to win.'_ He took a deep breath and made wiped his palm on his robes before drawing his wand.

"Champions, on my mark, you will start the race. Each one has their own entrance."

"Get set!"

"Go!"

As the other Champions ran for the openings leading into the maze, Harry advanced cautiously, his wand held at the ready.

"Aah! Let go!" came a cry almost immediately _'that sounds like Cedric. I hope he's ok'_ Harry kept going. '_If he isn't, that's what the Mediwitches are for_'. Harry tried to look everywhere - the ground, the path ahead as well as anything that could drop onto him from above. He was also careful to keep some space between his body and the hedge walls.

Something grabbed his foot.

Harry jumped back, only to land on his back as the strangler vine held on to his boot. It started to pull him towards the hedge wall, which was squirming in agitation _'oh, shit, oh shit, oh, shit'_ Harry scrabbled backwards, but the plant-thing was too strong.

'_Where's my wand?' _It was on the ground, out of reach. He must have dropped it when he hit the ground. '_Ok, then take it!' _Harry pointed his toes and yanked his foot. His boot went flying off and disappeared into the hedge. As he scrambled back, more vines reached for him. One was already starting to pluck at his robe. '_The herbicide!_' Harry whipped out the purple potion that he had purloined from herbology and threw it on the vines. The green leafy tentacles recoiled, smoking slightly. Harry grabbed his wand and stood up, one foot shod, the other in just a sock. He caught a momentary glimpse of his boot - vines were twining all through it.

"Ok, great, now I have to do this barefoot." He muttered as he limped forward.

For a time, Harry made slow but steady progress. Nothing leaped out at him, or tried to grab him or eat him or…

A giant lobster-sporian thing stepped out from around a bend.

'_It's one of Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts. That crazy bastard put one of his pet death machines into the maze!' _Harry started to hyperventilate. The creature advanced slowly, clicking from its orifices '_They are nearly as tough as dragons. Think. Think. What can I do to it?'_

All of a sudden, a blast of fire shot out of it's backside, propelling the monstrosity at Harry at dizzying speed. Harry rolled out of the way just in time. As he got back up, the Skrewt pulled itself out of the hedge wall and turned to face Harry again.

"Rictusempra!" Harry cast wildly, in the hopes of distracting the creature, but the tickling charm had no effect. '_right. no nerves. No eyes, no ..'_ "Incendio!" Harry's wand sprouted a two foot long flame, which he threw at the Skrewt, but the flame faded out as it hit, "Tarantallegra!" Harry cast desperately as he dodged the monster's giant stinger. That slowed it, as the creature staggered about on legs that didn't respond correctly. But the effects faded almost at once, "Locomotor Mortis" Harry tried again. this time, the Screwt stopped dead for a moment, before it was a able to move it's legs again.

Harry was almost backed into the hedge, which was writhing with anticipation. Little thorny loops reached out towards him.

"Locomotor Mortis! Locomotor Mortis! Locomotor Mortis! Locomotor Mortis!" Harry yelled as he darted towards the Skrewt. The monster's stinger lunged at him, and Harry barely ducked under it. "Locomotor Mortis! Locomotor Mortis" he repeated as he regained his footing. He was past the Screwt. It was still facing where he used to be, and he was behind it. A small strand of bramble had wound around one of the Screwt's legs. "Engorgio! Engorgio! Engorgio! "

The vine thickened and lengthened, wrapping around the hard shelled creature and pulling it into the hedge. Harry took the opportunity to race away, before it could get free.

*Zero*Zero*

Harry limped around a corner. his shoeless foot was hurting from where he had stepped on a sharp stone. He wasn't certain how far in he was, but at least the 'point me' kept him from getting completely turned around.

In front of him was Fleur. She turned around and gave him a condescending sneer. Then she pointed at him and started to laugh. Harry froze. He knew he was a loser, but he was hoping nobody else had noticed. But he always suspected that Fleur and the others knew. He stopped. Fleur advanced on him, a look of disgust on her face as Harry cringed back "Hey, gimme a little room." he whined. He was almost in the hedge. Again.

She was now standing over him, as he crouched on the ground "Flipendo" he whispered, trying to push her back. The blue spell went right through with no effect. _'what? she's..._' A light dawned "You're a prissy little slut! not worth the trouble of knowing" he yelled. "You think you're so cool with all your friends and cliques, but after school, you'll be nobody and nothing. You'll be pumping gas at a local gas station!' Harry concentrated on the image of Fleur in in stained overalls. "Riddikulus!" The image in front of him whirled and changed into a faded, middle aged woman in pancake makeup. She looked remarkably like Petunia. Harry darted past.

The boggart hung there for a moment before collapsing back into a floating amorphous blob with a pop.

*Zero*Zero*

"I look like a refugee," Harry muttered as he stood back up. His foot had hurt enough that he had torn the sleeve off of his robe and wrapped it around his foot. He was just setting out again when a scream sounded. _'Was that the real Fleur?'._ Harry was standing at a bend in the maze, and there was currently nobody in sight. Better yet, the hedge seemed to be just a regular bramble, with nothing malefic hidden inside.

"Point Me" Harry held his wand flat on his palm as it spun. He walked back 20 feet. "Point Me". And one more time, he went down the passage to his left. Each time, the wand pointed at a slightly different angle. _'I'm getting close. Thank Merlin for Terry. I'd never have thought of this on my own.'_ With how much the wand angle changed, he was no more than 2-3 passageways from the Goblet.

Harry slowly edged down the path, his neck was getting tired of his constant peering in all directions. But Harry had learned as a small child that Dudley.. erg danger could come from any direction.

Several minutes later, Harry heard shouting and the sounds of struggle. For a moment, he considered waiting it out, that maybe whoever it was would weaken or destroy the trap.

"Ah, damn." Harry limped forward. '_It could be Cedric. And some of the stuff in here is WAY more dangerous that that Croutch bastard claimed.'_ As he rounded the corner, he was confronted with Cedric and Krum struggling. Krum had Cedric by the collar and was throwing punches as Cedric tried to get his wand up.

"What the?" Harry stopped, stunned, "Stupefy!" Nothing happened _'Calm down. Wand, hand arm jab_' He tried again "Stupefy!" this time, a bolt of red light flashed out, hitting Krum.

The large Bulgarian collapsed where he stood, and Cedric pushed his way out from under the stunned seeker.

"You ok?"

"Yeah. I.. What happened?" Cedric put his hand to his head.

"Send up some sparks - You need a mediwizard. Why did Krum attack you?"

"Go on ahead. I'll send up the sparks" Cedric cast Incarcerous on the prone Krum and then sat down hard. His face was bruised, and his left eye was starting to swell shut.

"Ok" Harry nodded and walked off. He was part way down the corridor when he turned around and looked back with a frown. Cedric continued to sit, dazed, looking straight ahead. It looked... creepy, like there was something missing _'Does he have a concussion?' _Harry made his way back. "Give me your wand - I'll send up the sparks"

"No. Not yet. I need too…" Cedric staggered up. "I'm ok. Lets go, as a team, for Hogwarts!"

Harry smiled ,"Ok, but take it easy."

The two of them staggered down the remaining passage ways and out onto a grassy knoll. In the center, on a plinth, stood the Goblet.

Harry paused and looked at Cedric, "You take it."

"No, that's not fair." Cedric shook his head. "You got here first. You deserve it."

"But.." It felt wrong. He, Harry didn't win things. That was for other people. But maybe just this once… Maybe, just this once, he WOULD be a winner. He would be the Champion. "Ok"

A slow smile broke over Harry's face as he grasped the Goblet.


	9. Chapter 9

As Harry's hand closed on the the Goblet, he felt a pull at his navel. _'What the..'_ The worlds spun around. Harry staggered, trying to keep his feet. Looking up he found he was somewhere else.

A graveyard.

As Harry turned to look around, ropes spring out of thin air and wrap him in a cocoon.

"So, this is Harry Potter" came a raspy voice. Standing off to one side was Professor Moody, his wand drawn. Perched on his arm was a reptilian gnome-like creature. Moody walked up to Harry and pulled the wand from his immobilized hand.

"Professor? What's going on?" Harry asked.

"Don't worry about it, Potter. We just have a potion to make" Moody replied nonchalantly, as he mobilicorpus-ed Harry over to a cauldron that was slowly boiling.

"And after that, my boy, you will die!" cackled the creature, "Begin, my loyal one!"

Moody made a slashing motion, opening a gash in Harry's arm. He collected the blood that flowed out into a flask before casting a healing charm to stop the bleeding. "Sorry, Potter. You can't die quite yet."

Moody began to chant "Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son." He opened up a kerchief that was lying on the ground next to the cauldron and dropped something white into the potion. It bubbled for a few minutes, as Moody stirred it wordlessly.

Harry squirmed in his ropes, hoping to find some way to get free. "This is insane! I don't know what you are trying to do, but let me go."

"Silence him!" hissed the gnome.

Moody scowled, and wordlessly ripped a piece off of his shirt and jammed it into Harry's mouth. apparently he didn't want to interrupt the ritual by speaking.

"Flesh of the servant, willingly given, you will revive your master." Moody pulled a knife from under his robes and quickly sliced off a pinky, dropping it into the potion. He jammed the kerchief against the wound, and continued stirring. The reptilian thing watched with glee.

"Soon. Soon, I will return to my former glory."

'_I'm going to die.' _Harry had been scared before. When Dudley and his gang beat him up. When they had had the Dementors at Hogwarts last year. But this was different. This time, there was no panic. Just a cold certainty of his impending death.

"Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will resurrect your foe." Moody poured in Harry's blood.

"Yes, yes! It is good! Now!"

Moody picked up the gnome and dropped him into the cauldron as well.

The potion began to boil vigorously, splashing liquid in all directions. Moody quickly retreated to a safe distance. As he did, the liquid exploded out, revealing a man floating above the cauldron.

"And now, Lord Voldemort is reborn!" the same raspy voice came from the man as from the homonculous. The man looked almost normal, save for for a slightly snakey look to his face.

Moody went down on one knee "Welcome, Master" He then stood up and offered his arm. "Would you like to summon the others?" His eyes sparkled with anticipation.

'_How much of an idiot am I for just standing there when the Goblet portkeyed me here? I should have assumed something was wrong and run.'_ As the Dark Lord and his number one disciple proceeded to summon the rest of the Death Eaters, Harry was replaying what he had done, and what he should have done better. _'Or I should have tensed up my muscles, like Houdini, so I could get out of the ropes.' _Harry tried tensing and relaxing his muscles, in the hopes of loosening the ropes, but it didn't help - the ropes stayed just as tight. '_Why didn't I bring a knife or something. I'm a moron - I should have learned from the second task to carry a knife.'_

"You know of course, that they have called this boy my downfall? You all know that on the night I lost my powers and my body, I tried to kill him." Harry's musings were interrupted by Voldemort's announcement. He-who-must-not-be-named was now surrounded by a semi-circle of cloaked Death Eaters, all wearing their bone white masks. "Well, let us see how well he does."

Voldemort turned and swept towards Harry, "Boy, Do you think you are my match?"

"N..no sir." Harry could barely force the words out.

"You are an amusing little worm. How about you provide my comrades a spot of entertainment?" Voldemort positively radiated a malevolent sort of jeux de vivre.

"O..ok?" Several of the Death Eaters stifled chortles..

"Crucio!" Harry Potter arched and gasped as the most unimaginable pain lanced through him.

"Does this little boy look like a threat to me?" Voldemort asked his followers before turning back to Harry and dispelled the ropes. "Now, dual me. At least that way, you will die with dignity. Or would you prefer to scream in pain as you soil your robes and choke on your own vomit?"

"I'll, I'll take the duel, sir" Harry said tentatively as he stood back up. This time most of the Death Eaters laughed openly. Harry sank into a fighting stance. Fortunately, the Crucio had lasted but a moment, so his muscles were still working.

"In that case, go get your wand." Voldemort turned to speak to his Death Eaters as Moody held up Harry's wand. "We will see how well Dumbledore has taught his little puppe...erk!" Voldemort staggered as Harry delivered a powerful kick to the back of his knee. As the Dark Lord folded backwards, Harry grabbed the wand from his hand, almost by instinct, and ran.

"Get him!" Yelled Voldemort, at the same time as Moody, his main cheerleader, called out, "Shoot the little bastard!"

The Death Eaters were at a loss - their master was still recovering his footing, and he was directly in their line of fire. And you didn't just tell the Dark lord to 'drop and cover' so you could shoot a killing curse over his head. They ran to the sides, trying to get a clear shot.

Harry ran as fast as he could. Every moment, he expected to feel the awful green light of the killing curse wash over him. He wove between tombstones, finally ducking behind a mausoleum. _'Where do I go? I'm not going to be able to run back to Hogwarts. They'll catch me and kill me' _Harry surreptitiously looked around.

"He's over that way! McNair, circle left!" There was the sound of orders being issued.

'_At least they aren't close by. Unless one of them is silently sneaking up while the others distract me.' _Harry's blood ran cold. he dropped down onto his hands and knees and crawled for the edge of the crypt. Fortunately for him, there was a collection of large statues - angels or something - around that end, so Harry was able to scoot out and get behind a large tombstone. _'Now what?'_

There was a yell "There he is!" and the sound of running feet. But it wasn't coming closer, "Damn! I was certain I saw the little bastard."

'_The Goblet! Maybe it's a two way portkey!' _Harry knew the chances were slim, but he was desperate. Harry bunched himself up and, not daring to look, darted from his hiding place and ran for the open area where the Goblet had dumped him

"There he goes!" spells started flashing by him. Some red, some blue and some the vile green of the Aveda Kedavera. Harry flinched as a tombstone to his right exploded, spraying him with shards of granite. He kept running, hunched low to get the most cover he could. He ducked behind another mausoleum just in time to avoid an exploding hex that sprayed dirt over his back. Some of the dirt stuck to his face, and he rubbed off the gooey mess as he ran. _'Why is my face wet?"_ he noticed red on his hand from where he had d brushed the dirt away. _'Huh. I'm bleeding.'_

As Harry ran, he pulled out the exploding snap deck he had confundo'ed earlier and threw the cards behind him. Some exploded as soon as they left his hand, others detonated when they hit the ground. Others lay quietly until stepped on by Death Eaters. The whole display was harmless, but the Death Eaters didn't know that, and several stopped or cast Protego as they tried to avoid the miniature explosions.

"He's going for the Goblet, you morons!' that was Voldemort. Harry was almost to the clearing, and now he stopped, hunching down and put on a full burst of speed. The Goblet was right in front of him. Something hard slammed into his shoulder, spinning him around. Harry landed on his side, facing backwards. He could see the Death Eaters running towards him. Moody was in the lead - he was waving his wand as he leaped from tombstone to tombstone. Harry turned and scrambled for the Goblet. His fingers grasped it as he pleaded, 'pleasepleaseplease'

There was a pull at his navel.

*Zero*Zero*

Harry collapsed in the clearing in the Maze, dropping the Goblet. He pulled his knees up and shivered uncontrollably in reaction. _'I can't believe Moody is a Death Eater. I thought he was a cool guy, but...'_

There was the sound of yelling from somewhere nearby in the maze, and the sound of spells being cast. "Harry? Cedric? we're on our way. Please call out so we know where you are!" That sounded like Flitwick.

"What are you doing here?" Harry looked up.

Facing him was Cedric. "Go take the Goblet again." he was staring at Harry with a dangerous intensity.

"No! Are you crazy? I almost died back there. I can't believe Moody betrayed me." he sobbed. "I don't know what's going on. The whole world has gone insane!"

Cedric stepped forward, pointing his wand at Harry, almost poking him in the face, "Go. Take. The. Goblet. Or I will kill you!"

Harry looked up at his former tutor, horrified, '_Him too?' _He slowly stood back up, raising his hands in surrender as he did. When he was most of the way up, is left hand batted Cedric's wand off to the side and he lunged in, wrapping his left hand behind Cedric's neck as he jabbing with his right hand. He was surprised to find it held a wand, so he yelled the first spell that popped into his mind. "Reducto!"

The force of the spell blasted a hole right through Cedric's torso, spraying blood and gore over Harry.

At that moment, the hedge wall at his side flared and turned to ash, "Harry! are you ok?" professor Sprout burst through the gap, only to stop, horrified.

"What's wrong?" other wizards spilled past her, several were dressed in Auror robes. There was a buzz of words, which Harry couldn't follow as he stood staring at the remains of the boy he had killed.

He felt the wand pulled from his hands. Before he could groggily turn to see what had happened, a spell spun him around and pulled his hand behind his back. "You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to a barrister. If you can not afford one, the Wizengmot will appoint one for you."

* * *

Sorry for the short chapter. I will post the conclusion to Harry Potter: Zero in a few days.

After that, the story will continue in Harry Potter: Metamorphosis, which will be a year 5 story.


	10. Chapter 10

Harry wasn't certain what happened afterwards. People asked him question, he answered them. a medi-witch came over and cast a spell on his ear and then several more on the rest of him. After that, he found himself lying on a cot, an Auror standing at his side.

"Where am I?" He managed to get out. His mouth was dry, and the light was too bright. and when he turned his head, it felt like somebody was pounding a nail into his temples.

"You are in the hospital wing of Hogwarts, Mr Potter" the reply rumbled from the foot of his bed. Harry managed to turn his head enough to see that Professor Loew was sitting there, a folded newspaper on his lap. "Things are somewhat confused, but Ms. Delacour has also been brought in for medical attention, and her claim of having been assaulted by Cedric Diggeroy are making your claims of self defense plausible."

"Oh."

Before Harry could say anything further, Dumbledore swept in "Harry, my boy! How are you feeling?"

Harry eyed the Headmaster _'Voldemort said he was his enemy. I guess that means I can trust him.'_ "Not very good. What's going to happen to me? And.. And what about my wand?" _'If I don't have a wand, will I still be a wizard?'_

"I am trying to square that away as we speak. But as it stands now, you will be released on your own recognizance until the trial. As to the wand, by ancient tradition, the wand that you took from Voldemort is now yours."

"Wait – what trial?" Harry panicked.

'Yes, trial. It should be an open and shut case of self defense, but a young man did die, so the law demands that the facts be heard in a court of law. Don't worry about it, my boy. I will see to everything." Dumbledore turned to the Auror, "Would it be ok if you waited outside the room, instead of at Harry's bedside? I think it would help calm the situation." The Auror looked speculatively at the elder wizard before nodding and stepping out the door. Professor Loew continued to sit quietly, watching the proceedings.

"Are you… Are you certain?" Harry lay back down '_I don't like this.'_

"Yes. I just came back from St. Mungos - Krum has woken up, and he also claims to have been attacked by an assailant matching Cedric's descriptions. But I want to ask you about…"

"If Cedric was attacking all the other champions, why didn't you do something about it? Or some of the emergency wizards that were supposed to come help if something went wrong? Why didn't anybody do anything." Harry interrupted.

Dumbledore sighed, "Whoever set the cup up as a portkey sabotaged the maze. Soon after all the contestants entered, the scrying spells that were supposed to let the audience watch began to show random scenes. At first, nobody realized, it just looked like the maze, but then Professor Flitwick noticed that spells weren't tracking the champions like they were supposed to. When we realized something was dangerously wrong, we discovered that the maze had sealed itself off, and we had to force our way in. Without Pomona's skills, it would have taken us days. Whoever did this planned very well."

"I told you, It was Professor Moody!" Harry was annoyed. It was becoming clear that he couldn't even rely on Dumbledore. Those adults who weren't secretly evil were incompetent. Maybe the only person he could trust was himself.

"No, Harry." Dumbledore shook his head sadly, "we searched the defense professor's office, including the large multi-room trunk that he brought with him. Inside, we found Alistar Moody's body. He was tied up, and had just recently been murdered. Whoever you saw must have been impersonating him for the whole year, using a Polyjuce potion, most likely. Once they had no need of him, they killed him. Which brings me to what you saw in the graveyard. Are you certain that it was Voldemort?"

"Well, he certainly CLAIMED to be You-Know-Who, and he was surrounded by Death eaters."

"Harry, you can say his name. Calling him You-Know-Who just builds up the fear that he spreads."

"Fine. Voldemort. Are you Happy?"

"The reason I ask, is because there is a lot of resistance in some circles to accepting that Voldemort may have returned, and the more accurately I can speak, the more likely people are to listen. When people are already predisposed to doubt, one factual error can discredit your whole argument. To that end, I would like permission to examine your memory of the events."

"What? How?"

"I have a pensive, and we can pullout the memory of what happened, and then both of us can take a look."

Harry had heard of Pensives in passing, but they were expensive devices, so he had never seen on. "Ok. Lets do it."

A few minutes later, Dumbledor returned with a large stone bowl, which he placed on the end table.

"I know this will be unpleasant, but please concentrate on what happened at the graveyard so that I can pull forth the correct memory. Nod when you are ready for me to cast the spell."

Harry closed his eyes and sat still for a moment before nodding. Dumbledore touched his wand to Harry's temple and pulled forth a wispy bit of something. "Lets take a look at what we have."

Harry and Dumbledore both inserted their heads into the Pensive.

Immediately, they found themselves in the graveyard, facing the false Moody and a something sitting on his arm. Everything around was blurry, except for Moody. The action jumped from spot to spot, and the people were indistinct, often appearing as vague blobs.

"Professor, Why can't we see any details? Is something wrong with the spell?"

"No, I am sorry Harry, but the memory is this blurry because you are not a trained observer." Albus gave a sigh, "I had feared as much. We will have to do this the hard way. Come let us return."

After taking their heads out of the Pensive Dumbledore rubbed his head "this will not be easy. But at least I think I can get YOUR situation resolved by dinnertime. Then your friends can come visit you."

After Dumbledore left, Adam cleared his throat awkwardly "Death is never easy, Harry. My father raised me to protect people, yet over the centuries, I have failed more often than I have succeeded. It is often heart wrenching to see someone you know, if even casually, die. It does not matter if you are the cause of their death or not."

Harry sat silently for a long time, "Have you ever killed somebody who you were friends with?"

Adam sighed, "too often. In a life or death situation, mistakes kill. And I have made my share." He paused and looked down at his hands, "And sometimes, a person that you thought you knew, you did not know as well as you should have. Just because somebody betrays you does not make them a bad person. Maybe they decided that doing so was the only way to save themselves or their family. You can never know what went through Cedric's mind, Harry. Hating him will not help anything."

"Did I do right?" asked Harry in a faint voice.

"Yes." There was no hesitation in Adam's reply.

"Professor - about the trial thing - how serious is it going to be? Will it be as simple as Dumbledore thinks?"

"Most likely, yes. The evidence is overwhelming that Cedric was either a Dark wizard or under the Imperious. You will just have to come to court and answer a few questions."

"Could you come with me - I live with muggles, and they don't… they are going to be no help."

"Of course."

*Zero*Zero*

Dumbledore was as good as his word. The Auror guard was gone by dinnertime. But he was also wrong: nobody visited.

The following day was the leaving feast, and Madam Pomfrey cleared him to leave the infirmary. "Harry, you should go down to the great hall. You should spend some time with your friends. You won't see most of them all summer, after all," Harry continued to sit on his cot, his knees pulled up to his chest and his chin resting on them.

Madame Pomfrey looked up from filing some papers and opened her mouth to say something else when Harry managed, "I'll go down later. I'm not hungry." The medi-witch shrugged and walked out of the room.

A few moments later, the door opened again, and Luna crept in. "Hi."

Harry looked at her. She sat down on the bed next to him and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry I didn't come earlier, but I know you don't want anybody to see me with you, so I was respecting your wishes."

Harry opened his mouth, and then closed it. He wasn't certain what to say.

"It will get better, but you need to find something to do. That's the way it was when my mother died. I spent the first few months just sitting in my room, under my blanket. It was horrible, but then Daddy got me interested in Zoology, and that helped."

"I didn't know your mother had died." Harry felt vaguely guilty.

Luna shrugged "I don't like to talk about it."

Harry pulled the younger girl into a hug, "Thanks." They sat together for hours. Neither one talked. Finally, as the afternoon rolled on, Luna stood up. "You should go pack - the Hogwarts express leaves in about an hour. Come on."

Harry stood up. "Yeah. I should do that" They walked hand in hand down to the Ravenclaw dorms. As he turned to go up to the boys' quarters, he turned back and grabbed Luna's hand and pulled her back. As she stopped, puzzled, he leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips. "Thanks."

END

The story will continue in Harry Potter: Metamorphosis. The first chapter should be up next week.


	11. Next story

This story continues in "Harry Potter: Metamorphosis", of which the first chapter has just been posted.

you can find it in my profile (along with all the other stories I've written)


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